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OUR  MISSIONARIES  IN  JAPAN, 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 


OF  THE 


WORK  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


OF  THE 


Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 


By  rev.  S.  N.  CALLENDER,  D.D. 


Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  .States, 


REVISED  EDITION 


PUBLISHED  BY  DIRECTION  OF  THE  BOARD. 


Press  of 

Report  rublisliiiig  Co  ,  Ivimited, 
Lebanon,  Pa. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

,TIIK 

WORKOF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

OF  THE 

Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States. 


The  Early  Struggles  of  Our  Church. 


POR  well  nigh  half  a  century,  after  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  United  States  assumed,  in  1793,  the 
power  of  self-government,  it  was  in  a  state  of  prep¬ 
aration — of  train, ing  for  the  work  which  in  His  prov¬ 
idence  Cod  had  committed  to  its  hands.  What  with 
a  membershii)  widely  scattered  over  several  States ;  with  a 
totally  inadequate  force  of  ministers,  and  without  the  means, 
in  the  form  of  educational  institutions  to  supply  this  want,  it 
engrossed  its  attention  and  exhausted  every  resource  at  its 
command,  to  provide  as  best  it  could  for  its  imperative  ne¬ 
cessities  and  save  it  from  loss  and  disintergration.  The  neces¬ 
sity  of  the  establishment  of  institutions  for  the  rearing  of  a 
sufficient  and  com])etent  ministry  was  early  perceived  and  ap¬ 
preciated,  hut  the  means  were  not  available.  It  was  not  until 
after  the  failure  of  several  attemi)ts  that  at  length  in  1825  an 
arrangement  was  affected  with  the  authorities  of  Dickinson 
College,  Carlisle,  r*a.,  by  which  it  was  hoped  to  meet  the  emer¬ 
gency,  hut  this  tO(j  proved  ineff'ectual.  Another  effort  was 
made  to  establish  the  necessary  institutions  of  learning  at  York, 
Pa.,  where  the  Seminary,  having  failed  at  Carlisle,  wms  reor¬ 
ganized.  This  proved  to  he  more  ])romising.  It  continued  in 
partially  successful  0])eration  until  1837,  furnishing  thirtv-five 
persons  to  the  ranks  of  the  ministry.  In  conse(:(uence  (jf  the 
want  of  academic  training  on  the  part  of  most  of  the  students, 
the  professors  had  been  under  the  necessitv  of  imparting  in¬ 
struction  in  the  classical  liranches.  Hence  arose  the  necessitv 


4 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


of  establishing'  a  college.  This  was  realized  at  length  by  the 
founding  of  IMarshall  College  in  Mercersbnrg,  Pa.,  in  1835, 
and  two  years  after,  the  Seminary  was  moved  there  from  York. 


Election  of  the  f'irst  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

\o  sooner  did  the  question  of  providing  an  adequate  min¬ 
istry  reach  a  hopeful  solution  than  the  Church  felt  that  it  was 
prepared  to  give  a  more  attentive  ear  to  the  voice  of  the  Mas¬ 
ter.  commanding,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gos¬ 
pel  to  every  creature.”  At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the 
United  States  in  1838,  in  Lancaster,  Pa.,  the  Board  of  Home 
^Missions  in  its  report,  suggested  the  organization  of  a  For¬ 
eign  Board.  The  suggestion  was  receiverl  with  favor  and  a 
I'oreign  Board  was  elected,  consisting  of  the  following  per¬ 
sons  : 


Rev.  Diedrich  Wii.i.hrs, 

Rev.  Bkrn.vrd  C.  Wcji.i- r, 

Rev.  S.\.MUEI.  Gutei.ius, 

Rev.  S-CMUEi.  R.  Fisher, 

FBder  jM.VfTHEW  Sh.a.w, 

Fhder  John  D.  Seidenstricker, 

Pledges  and  contributions  to 
made.  The  Church  was  ripe  for 
organized  liy  the  election  of  Rev. 
and  adopted  a  constitution. 


Rev.  Eeias  IIeiner, 

Rev.  John  Cares, 

Rev.  Joseph  F.  Berg, 

Elder  John  J.  Mayer, 

Fdder  Daniei.  Buckey, 

Fdder  BurcherT  M.A.YER. 

the  amount  of  $945  were 
the  work.  The  Board  was 
Diedrich  Willers,  President, 


The  Beginning  of  Its  Work. 

d'he  first  ([uestion  which  commanded  the  attention  of  the 
newlv-a])j)ointed  and  organized  Board  was  to  seek  out  labor¬ 
ers  for  some  foreign  field.  Failing  in  this  search,  with  the 
specific  field  of  labor  still  undetermined,  the  Board  had  its  at¬ 
tention  directed  to  Rev.  Benjamin  Schneider,  then  a  mission¬ 
ary  in  Broosa,  Asia  Minor,  under  the  American  Board,  fie 
was  the  son  of  a  devout  Elder  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Montgomery  Co.,  Pa.,  and  was  thus  a  son  of  our  own  Church. 
In  early  life  he  jiursued  his  studies  in  the  academy  in  Xorris- 


ll'orL'  of  l^orcij^ii  Missions  5 

town,  I’a.,  where  he  eonneeted  himself  with  the  I’reslwterian 
L'hureh.  After  eonipleting'  his  elassieal  studies  at  Amherst 
t'olleg'e.  and  his  theologieal  eonrse  in  tlie  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  he  was  commissioned  as  a  missionary  to  Broosa, 
Asia  i\iinor,  h}'  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
horeig'n  [Missions,  through  which  Board  the  Presl)yterian 
Lhurch  was  then  carrying  on  its  foreign  work.  He  was  or¬ 
dained  to  tlie  Gospel  [Ministry  Iw  the  AT\v  Castle  Preshvtery. 

The  thought  occurred  to  our  Board  That  if  Rev.  Schneider, 
with  the  consent  of  his  Presbytery,  would  transfer  his  mem¬ 
bership  to  his  own  mother  Church  that  it  would  lie  wise  to 
adopt  him  as  its  beneficiary  and  extend  to  him  its  support.  The 
change  in  his  church  relations  was  accordingly  satisfactorily 
ettected,  and  he  was  enrolled  as  a  minister  of  the  then  Ger¬ 
man  Reformed  Church,  and  a  member  of  the  [Maryland  Classis, 
in  which  connection  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1877.  As 
early  as  1840  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States  paid 
$1,000  into  the  treasury  of  the  American  Board,  but  the  change 
in  Rev.  Dr.  Schneider's  Church  relations  did  not  take  place  un¬ 
til  184^.  from  which  date  until  1865,  the  Church  contriliuted 
to  his  support:  contributing  in  all  to  the  Central  Turkey  [Mis¬ 
sion  nearly  $28,000. 

Withdrawal  of  Its  Support  From  the  American  Board. 

About  i860  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  began  to  manifest 
itself  with  the  mode  of  carrying  on  our  foreign  work :  we 
being  merely  contriliutors  to  another  organization,  without  any 
mission  properly  our  own.  Accordingly  in  that  year  our  Synod 
inaugurated  a  movement  to  have  the  mission  at  Aintali,  to 
which  place  Rev.  Dr.  Schneider  had  been  removed,  if  possible 
transferred  to  it,  so  that  it  could  call  it  its  own.  A  lengthy 
correspondence  was  carried  on  between  Elder  R.  F.  Kelker, 
the  Treasurer  of  our  Board,  and  Rev.  Rnfus  Anderson,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board.  The  outcome  of  the  ne¬ 
gotiations  was,  that  such  a  transfer  being  deemed  inexpedient 
bv  both  the  American  Board  and  Rev.  Dr.  Schneider,  the  de- 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


() 

sire  of  our  Synod  failed  to  Ije  realized.  Consequently  in  1865 
the  Synod  resolved  to  establish  a  Mission  of  its  own,  and  to 
discontinue  its  contrihntions  to  the  .Vmerican  Hoard,  ddie  last 
l)a_\  nient  was  made  (  )ctol)er  9,  1863. 

Suspension  of  the  Foreign  Work. 

At  the  time  of  the  discontinuance  of  its  relations  to  the 
.\merican  Hoard  in  the  work  of  h'orei.qn  Missions,  the  Church 
found  itself  in  the  midst  of  a  most  earnest  and  heated  theolog¬ 
ical  controversy.  .Ho  animated  and  active  had  it  become  as  to 
largel}-  absorb  the  attention  of  the  whole  Church  and  seriously 
to  militate  against  its  interest  and  activity  in  its  foreign  work. 
During  the  continuance  of  this  contention  hut  little  money 
flowed  inti  I  the  h'oreigu  Mission  treasury.  Hut  it  did  not 
cease  entirely.  From  time  to  time  the  Treasurer  received  re- 
mittances,  while  interest  accrued  on  vested  interests.  That 
these  funds  might  I'ot  lie  idle  and  fail  of  their  intended  ])ur- 
])ose,  in  1872,  ( ieneral  S\'nod,  which  meanwhile  had  Ireen  or¬ 
ganized,  ordered  that  they  should  he  ])aid  to  the  (.ierman  Fvan- 
gelical  I'oreigu  Missionary  Societw  To  this  Societw  from 
1872  to  1875,  was  paid  $979.81,  which  was  ajiplied  to  the  sup- 
jiort  of  Rev.  (  )scar  Lohr  and  his  associate.  Rev.  Jacob  llauser, 
both  ministers  of  the  Reformed  Church  who  were  laboring  in 
India,  and  through  whose  ministry  the  .Mission  at  Hisrampore 
was  founded. 

In  addition  to  this,  from  December,  1878,  to  March,  18S6, 
the  Hoard  of  h'oreign  .Missions  jiaid  to  the  .Mission  among  the 
W'inneliago  Indians  in  W  isconsin,  estalilished  under  Sheboy¬ 
gan  Classis  of  the  Synod  of  the  Northwest,  ahc.iut  $1,500. 

Revival  of  the  Spirit  of  Missions. 

'Idle  etfect  C)f  the  all-ahsorhing  theological  controversy  and 
the  spirit  of  dissension  abroad  in  the  Church  was  to  jiaralyze 
its  missionary  energies,  and  this  in  turn  doomed  the  Hoard  to 
inactivity  and  wrought  more  or  less  demoralization.  Happily, 
in  1873,  the  Hoard  aroused  itself  from  its  state  of  apathy,  by 


il'ork  of  Foreign  Missions 


/ 


what  in  some  sort,  lie  called  a  reorg-anization.  This 

tiuickcning  \v:is  realized  at  a  meeting'  held  in  1  Jarrishnrg,  I’a., 
at  the  residence  of  Elder  R.  F.  Ivelker.  ddie  presence  at  this 
meeting-  of  Rev.  Retijamin  Schneider,  D.D.,  niissioriary  at  Ain- 
tah,  Asia  iMinor,  ami  Rev.  J.  iM.  Ferris,  D.D.,  Corresponding- 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  IMissions  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  .\t-nerica,  had  much  to  do  in  inspiring  the  life  and 
energy  manifested.  This  revival  of  the  spirit  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  seei-ns  to  have  been  one  of  the  premonitory  indications  of 
a  grow-ing  disposition  tow-ard  reconciliation  and  an  adjustment 
of  the  questions  w  hich  for  so  long  had  disturl:)ed  the  peace  of 
the  Church,  for  at  the  meeting  of  General  Svnod  in  Lancaster, 
Fa.,  1878.  the  Peace  Movement  was  inaugurated,  and  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  the  initiative  seemed  immediately,  like  the  pouring  of 
oil  upon  the  waters.  The  spirit  of  contention  seemed  at  once 
to  subside  in  that  body. 

At  this  san-ie  meeting  of  General  Synod  instructions  were 
given  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Alissions  to  n-iove  foiwvard  in 
its  work.  And  during  its  session  a  special  meeting  of  the 
Board  convened,  and  instructed  its  President,  Rev.  David  \'an 
Horne,  D.D.,  to  obtain  information  as  to  the  expedienev  and 
proprietv  of  establishing  a  mission  either  in  China  or  Japan, 

The  Election  of  the  First  Missionary. 

No  time  was  lost  in  making  the  necessary  inquiry.  Japan 
was  determined  upon  as  the  field.  And  it  w-as  as  early  as  the 
30th  of  the  follow-ing  September  that  the  first  missionary  to 
Japan  was  appointed.  Four  applications  w-ere  presented  to 
the  Board  for  the  appointment.  The  choice  fell  upon  Rev. 
Ambrose  D.  Gring. 

Rev.  A.  D.  Gring  was  born  December  8,  1849.  Hds  father. 
Rev.  Daniel  Gring,  was  a  minister  of  our  Reformed  Church. 
He  pursued  his  collegiate  course  to  graduation  in  Franklin 
and  ^Marshall  College,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  his  theological 
course  in  Yale  Theological  Seminary.  He  sailed  for  Japan  in 
company  with  his  w  ife,  Mrs.  Hattie  L.  Gring,  iicc  McLean,  in 


8 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


May,  1879,  reached  Yokohama,  Japan,  June  i,  1879. 
this  city  he  spent  the  first  year  of  his  residence  in  Japan,  de¬ 
voting  liimself  to  the  study  of  the  language. 

In  selecting  a  location  for  the  Mission  about  to  be  estab¬ 
lished,  the  choice  fell  upon  the  capitol  city,  Tokvo.  On  the  26th 
of  April,  1880,  the  Hoard  purchased  in  this  city  a  residence,  28 
Tsukiji,  for  $3,955.50'  u'hich,  after  needed  repairs,  was  taken 
possession  of  by  the  missionary  the  following  June. 

At  the  instance  of  [Missionary  Gring,  while  learning  the 
language,  his  personal  teacher,  aided  by  the  personal  teacher 
of  Rev.  Dr.  X'erbeck,  of  the  Reformtnl  Church  in  America, 
translated  the  J  leidelherg  Catechism  from  the  hook  language, 
into  which  it  had  been  translated  some  time  previously,  mainly 
by  a  Presbyterian,  into  the  collo(|uium,  or  spoken  language. 
This  translation  was  published  l)y  our  Hoard.  He  also  had 
prei)ared  an  eclectic  dictionary,  Jajjanese  and  English,  which  he 
sul)sequcntly  published  as  a  personal  enterprise.  It  was  not 
until  May  11,  1884,  that  any  considerable  fruit  of  evangelistic 
work  a])])eared,  when  a  congregation  was  organized  at  Nihon 
Hashi,  in  the  Mission  school  building,  purchased  through  the 

liberality  of  Elder 
Henjamin  Kuhns, 
Dayton,  Ohio. 

Steps  were 
taken  for  the  es¬ 
tablishment  of  a 
school  in  this 
building.  It  con¬ 
sisted  of  a  primary 
department  for 
children  and  a 
higher  department 
for  scholars  of  a 
mature  age.  [Mrs. 
(firing  established 


THE  FIRST  MISSION  SCHOOL  BUILDING. 


/I ’()/■/>'  of  foreign  Missions 


9 


a  class;  ol  yirls,  wlinni  she  inslniclcd  in  fancy  needle  work, 
and  in  the  teachings  (.>1  the  Llihle.  d'he  school  did  not  attain 
any  considcrahle  success,  and  was  tlishanded  on  the  removal 
of  the  Mission  to  Sendai.  A  few  i)f  the  girls  accompanied 
the  Mission  to  Sendai,  and  enterecl  the  Girls’  School  estab¬ 
lished  there. 

This  congregation  is  still  in  existence,  hnt  it  never  has  at¬ 
tained  strength  and  enlarged  growth.  Recently,  however,  its 
prospects  are  more  encouraging.  An  elderly  and  somewhat 
inefficient  native  pastor  has  been  succeedetl  by  one  of  the  grad¬ 
uates  of  our  Tohoku  Gakuin,  Mr.  lliodaya  Shimauuki.,  a  for¬ 
mer  beneheiary  of  Elder  R.  h'.  Kelker's  liible  Glass,  ilarris- 
burg,  Ra.,  wbo  enters  upon  the  charge  of  this  congregation 
with  Christian  zeal  and  youthfnl  ardor. 

After  a  sojourn  of  eight  years  in  Japan,  in  consequence  of 
the  impaired  health  of  Rev.  Gring  and  his  wife,  a  furlough 
was  granted  him,  and  he  and  his  family  returned  to  America, 
landing  at  San  Francisco,  Cab,  in  May,  1887.  After  his  re¬ 
turn  he  continued  in  the  service  of  the  Roard,  visiting  the 
churches  in  the  interest  of  our  foreign  work,  until  April  25, 
1889,  when  he  presented  his  resignation  as  a  missionary,  to 
take  effect  May  1,  1889.  His  resignation  was  accepted  by  tbe 
Board,  and  bis  relation  to  it  accordingly  came  to  an  end. 

The  Second  Missionary — Rev.  J.  P.  Moore,  D.  D. 

After  the  selection  of  Tokyo  as  the  location  of  the  Mission, 
in  1880,  the  Board  felt  that  it  could  not  safely  risk  its  success 
upon  the  contingency  of  the  health  and  life  of  one  man,  and 
that  to  guard  against  interruption  and  make  the  work  effective 
and  continuous  it  would  be  prudent  to  reinforce  the  Mission 
at  an  early  day  liy  sending  out  another  missionary.  Accord¬ 
ingly  the  Board  sought  the  counsel  of  General  Synod  at  its 
meeting  in  the  city  of  Tiffin,  Ohio,  in  18S1,  and  by  it  was  au¬ 
thorized  to  appoint  another  missionary  as  .soon  as  might  be 
expedient. 

Acting  under  this  instruction,  on  March  13,  1883,  the 


10  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

liortrd  appuiiited  and  coininissioned  Rev.  Jairus  L’.  Moore.  He 
was  born  November  27,  1847,  Bucks  county,  Pa.  He  grad¬ 
uated  in  Franklin  and  Marsliall  College,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Tiffin,  Ohio.  He  had  an  ex¬ 
perience  of  si.x  years  in  teaching  and  live  years  of  active  work 
in  the  ministr\'.  llis  wife  was  Miss  Anna  M.  Arnold,  Lan¬ 
caster,  Pa. 

Rev.  Moore  and  wife  sailed  for  Japan  in  September,  1883, 
and  arrived  (Jetober  1,  18S3.  He  at  once  proceeded  to  Tokyo, 
and  commenced  acquiring  the  language.  LTnwilling  to  post¬ 
pone  his  efforts  to  win  sonls  to  Christ  until  he  should  gain 
the  mastery  of  the  language,  he  hastened  to  avail  himself  of 
the  ministry  of  his  native  teacher  and  interpreter,  and  estab¬ 
lished  a  Ihble  class  in  his  own  house,  and  succeeded  in  se 
curing  the  attendance  of  a  mnnber  of  male  scliolars. 

Similarly,  Mrs.  Moore  established  a  Bible  class  for  girls 

and  women.  One  of 
the  scholars  in  this 
latter  was  a  married 
lady,  of  the  upper 
class  of  societv,  by 
the  name  of  Mrs. 
Nakashima.  The  lady 
manifested  a  deej)  in¬ 
terest  in  the  instruc¬ 
tions  imparted  bv 
.Mrs.  Moore.  One 
day  she  iiuiuircd  of 
her  teacher  whether 
she  would  object  to 
having  her  hmsband 
accompany  her  to  the 
class?  Mrs.  IMoore 
assured  her  that  it 
would  afford  her 
great  pleasure  to 


\ 


^  «vl 


I 


KKV.  J.  P.  MOORE,  D.D. 


JFork  of  Foreign  I\Iissions 


II 


have  ^ir.  ^akashiuui 
aceontpaiiy  her,  and 
that  it  would  be  an 
equal  pleaMire  to  Mr. 

Moore  to  make  his 
aequaintance.  Thus 
were  the  two  men 
brought  together  and 
ail  intimate  aequaiut- 
auee  was  gradually 
formed.  Rev.  Moore 
early  discovered  that 
his  new  acquaintance 
was  a  man  of  educa¬ 
tion  ;  that  he  stood 
high  as  a  statesman 
and  political  leader. 

Ills  rvlfe  had  occu¬ 
pied  a  place  of  honor 
in  the  palace  of  the 
Rmperor.  Mr.  Nakashima  had  made  some  progress  in  ac¬ 
quiring  the  English  language,  and  was  reading  English  au¬ 
thors  on  iiolitical  science  and  jurisprudence,  but  the  want  of  a 
more  thorough  mastery  of  the  language  was  the  occasion  of 
considerable  difficulty  in  his  grasping  the  full  meaning  of  the 
author.  At  his  recpiest  Rev.  Moore  freely  consented  to  render 
him  the  assistance  he  needed.  This  led  to  frequent  and  free 
meetings,  when  Mr.  Nakashima,  with  the  difficult  passages  in 
the  book,  marked  with  small  pieces  of  red  paiier,  would  seek 
the  desired  explanation.  In  the  course  of  their  conversations 
Rev.  jNIoore  learned  that  his  friend  had  read  some  in  the  Bible 
and  was  somewhat  interested  in  its  teachings.  lie  accordingly 
mentioned  that  he  met  a  class  for  Bilile  study,  on  a  certain  day 
in  the  week,  in  his  study,  and  said,  that  if  it  was  in  accord  with 
his  pleasure,  he  would  be  glad  to  have  him  attend.  The  invi¬ 
tation  was  accepted,  and  Mr.  Nakashima  became  a  deeply-in- 


MRS.  J.  P.  MOORE. 


12 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


terested  and  earnest  enquirer  after  the  truth.  Mrs.  Naka- 
shima  continued  her  studies  under  the  instruction  of  Mrs. 
Moore,  and  her  husband  under  Rev.  Moore,  until,  by 
the  qrace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  their  eyes  were  opened, 
and  they,  in  humble  faith,  accepted  Jesus  Christ  as 
their  Savior.  Jt  was  Rev.  Moore’s  delightful  privilege  to  bap¬ 
tize  husband  and  wife  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 
thus  induct  tliem  into  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord,  Jesus  Christ. 

Subsequently  Mr.  Nakashima  was  one  of  the  three  persons 
nominated  l)y  the  lower  House  of  the  hrst  Imperial  Diet,  one 
of  w  horn,  according  to  their  constitution,  was  to  be  appointed 
by  the  Lmperor  to  the  office  of  Speaker.  d'he  Lmperor’s 
choice  fell  u[)on  Mr.  Nakashima.  He  was  appointed  Minister 
I ’lenipotentiary  from  Japan  to  the  Court  of  Italy,  and  later  re¬ 
turned  to  Japan,  where  he  now  resides. 

Rev.  Moore's  later  work  in  d'okyo  resulted  in  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  the  llancho  ebureb  in  that  city,  which  for  one  year 
worshipisl  in  the  dining  room  of  his  residence.  It  is  today  a 
self-supporting  congregati(.)n,  and  the  strongest  in  member¬ 
ship  of  the  churches  connected  with  onr  Mission.  It  is  statedly 
ministered  to  l)y  a  native  pastor,  in  a  fine  chapel  erected  by  the 
congregati(  )n. 

While  Ivev.  Moore  was  most  diligently  and  successfully 
ministering  to  his  llancho  congregation  in  Tokyo,  a  movement 
was  going  forward  in  the  city  of  Sendai,  some  two  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  to  the  north  (an  account  of  which  will  ap¬ 
pear  further  onj,  which  was  destined  not  only  to  materially 
mcjdify  the  plan  of  operations  ])nrsned  up  to  this  time,  but  ul¬ 
timately  to  determine  the  policy  according  to  which  our  work 
in  Japan  has  since  been  carried  on.  'Fins  movement  resulted, 
as  will  be  seen,  in  the  removal  of  our  Mission  to  that  northern 
city,  .\mong  the  early  effects  of  this  new  movement  ai)peared 
the  necessity  of  Rev.  Moore’s  removal  from  Tokyo  to  Sendai. 
This  at  first  was  extremely  distasteful  to  him,  and  his  aversion 
to  the  change  was  intensified  by  the  extreme  unwillingness  of 
his  congregation,  the  fruit  of  his  early  love  and  labor,  to  con¬ 
sent  to  his  leaving.  But  constrained  by  the  force  of  circum- 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions 


13 


stances  and  the  urgency  of  tlie  Board,  he  aeqnieseed  with  pain- 
fnl  rolnetanec  and  made  the  removal. 

He  was  scarcely  settled  in  Sendai  when  an  opening  pre¬ 
sented  itself  which  seemed  to  promise  large  resnlts  in  the  way 
of  extending  the  blessed  work  to  which  he  had  consecrated 
his  strength  and  life.  The  authorities  of  the  city  of  Yamagata, 
a  place  some  forty  miles  west  of  Sendai,  desired  to  secure  a 
competent  teacher,  d'hey  did  not  object  to  the  teacher  being  a 
t'hristian,  but  it  was  not  Christianity  they  sought;  it  was  sim¬ 
ply  secular  education  for  their  children.  They  were  willing 
to  pay  125  yen  per  month  and  a  residence  for  the  teacher.  He 
was  expected  to  devote  a  certain  number  of  hours  per  day  to 
the  school,  and  his  remaining  time  was  to  be  at  his  own  dis¬ 
posal.  Rev.  iMoore  was  invited  to  accept  this  position,  and 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Board  he  did  so.  He  ac¬ 
cordingly  removed  to  Yamagata,  and  for  two  years  he  filled 
the  office  of  teacher  in  that  native  school.  His  leisure  hours 
were  not  unemployed,  but  devoted  to  preaching  the  Gospel. 
His  labors  were  not  without  precious  fruit,  souls  were  won  to 
Christ,  and  a  small  congregation  estal)lished,  which  continues 
to  the  present  day. 

At  the  end  of  two  years  the  i)atrons  of  the  school  intimated 
an  unwillingness  to  continue  the  contracted  arrangement.  This 
was  in  large  part  caused,  as  the  Board  afterwards  learned,  l)y 
its  failure  to  conform  to  certain  unauthorized  verl)al  promises 
made  l)y  its  agent  at  the  time  of  making  the  original  contract, 
and  of  which  unauthorized  promises  the  Ploard  was  not  in¬ 
formed  until  after  the  discontinuance  of  Rev.  Moore’s  services, 
when  it  learned  of  them  from  another  person.  Rev.  Moore 
was  not  a  party  to  this  misunderstanding. 

Leaving  Yamagata,  Rev.  Moore  returned  to  Sendai.  Here, 
in  consequence  of  the  laws  of  Japan,  Sendai  not  being  an  open 
port,  he  could  remain  only  in  the  capacity  of  a  teacher.  The 
Training  School  having  meanwhile  been  estalilished,  he  took 
charge  of  some  of  the  classes.  His  special  service,  however, 
has  been  and  still  continues  to  be,  evangelistic  work,  of  whicli 
department  he  was  until  recently  the  Principal. 


14 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


After  Rev.  Moore  returned  from  Yamagata  to  Sendai  an 
incident  occurred  which  is  deeply  interesting.  There  is  in 
Sendai,  besides  other  government  schools,  one  designated  the 
Higher  Middle  School.  It  is  of  the  grade  of  our  xAmerican 
college.  In  it  were  some  500  to  600  students.  The  school, 
teachers  and  all  concerned  were  bitterly  hostile  to  Christian¬ 
ity.  They  would  have  none  of  it.  What  must  have  been, 
therefore.  Rev.  Moore’s  surprise  when  one  day  he  was  ap¬ 
proached  l)y  one  in  authority  with  the  proi)osition  that  he 
should  take  the  position  of  teacher  of  English  in  that  school, 
teaching  a  certain  number  of  hours  a  day.  *Vfter  consulting 
with  his  associates,  of  his  own  and  kindred  missions,  he  ac¬ 
cepted  the  proposition,  lie,  of  course,  could  not  teach  Chris¬ 
tianity.  Rut  he  was  a  living  epistle.  There  was  a  religious 
atmosphere  about  his  ])erson.  And  when  the  students,  who 
were  won  by  his  cordiality  and  kindness,  drew  near  to  him, 
they  breathed  that  atmosphere.  Some  of  these  accepted  his 
invitation  to  attend  his  P)ible  class,  held  in  his  own  house  in 
the  evening.  They  attended,  they  heard,  and  the  Holy  Spirit 
o])ened  their  eyes  and  their  hearts  to  the  truth.  A  vigorous 
Young  Men’s  Christian  .\ssociation  sprung  u])  in  that  heathen 
school,  and  continued  after  he  left.  His  furlough  to  this 
country  called  him  away  from  this  Higher  Middle  School  and 
when  he  gave  notice  of  his  retirement,  the  authorities  told 
him,  “WT  want  another  man  from  your  Mission,”  so  favorably 
had  he  imjiressed  them.  Rut  sad  to  say,  we  had  no  one  to 
spare. 

In  the  fall  of  iSgi  the  Hoard,  finding  itself  unable  to  awaken 
the  Church  to  a  lively  and  responsive  sense  of  the  growing  ne¬ 
cessities  of  our  rapidly-progressing  work  in  Japan,  and  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  ^Mission,  concluded  to  anticipate  by  one  year 
the  usual  term,  and  called  Rev.  Moore  home  on  furlough,  hop¬ 
ing  that  his  presence  and  visits  among  our  churches  would 
have  the  desired  effect  of  arousing  larger  and  more  liljeral  at¬ 
tention  to  our  heaven-blessed  work.  He,  with  his  estimable 
wife,  reached  this  country  in  September  of  that  year,  and  with 
v  hat  sel  f-sacrifice  they  labored,  and  what  large  results  accrued,  are 


n ’(1/7.’  of  F'orcigii  Afissious 


IS 


still  fresh  in  the  nicniorv  of  our  Reformed  people.  It  was  their 
expectation  and  desire  to  return  to  their  field  of  labor  at  the 
end  e/f  one  year,  but  at  the  expressed  wish  of  the  Board  their 
return  was  delayed  until  June.  1803. 

During'  their  stay  in  this  country  an  event  transpired  which, 
for  a  season,  interfered  with  Rev.  Moore’s  resumption  of  his 
evangelistic  work  on  his  return  to  Japan.  The  IMisses  Poor- 
haugh,  under  whose  efficient  care  and  labor  the  Girls’  School 
at  Sendai  had  made  such  admirable  progress,  notified  the 
Roard  that  they  wished  to  retire  permanently  from  the  work 
in  the  earlv  future.  This  determination  on  their  part  very 
much  disconcerted  the  Board.  It  asked  them  to  reconsider 
their  determination,  but  without  success.  It  knew  not  where 
to  find  a  successor,  and  its  efforts  to  secure  one  resulted,  for 
the  time,  in  failure.  It  was  felt  that  it  could  not  allow  the 
whole  weight  of  the  school  to  rest  upon  the  remaining  Ameri¬ 
can  teacher.  Miss  Mary  C.  Ilollowell.  So  in  the  emergency, 
greatly  to  its  own  regret  and  that  too,  erjually  of  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
Moore,  it  felt  compelled  to  appoint  him  temporarily.  Principal, 
and  Mrs.  Moore,  Vice-Principal  of  the  School.  Upon  their 
return  they  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their  new  duties,  and 
so  efficiently  were  they  discharged  that  the  sudden  change  in 
administration  wrought  no  evil  effects  upon  the  .School.  They 
continued  iu  this  relation  for  one  year,  when  the  arrival  of 
iMiss  Lena  Zurfluh  released  them,  and  Doctor  IMoore  ffor  dur¬ 
ing  his  sojourn  in  this  country,  Heidelhurg  University,  at  Tif¬ 
fin,  Ohio,  honored  him  with  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity)  resumed  his  successful  work  as  Principal  of  the 
Evangelistic  Department. 

In  addition  to  his  duties  as  Principal  of  the  Evangelistic  De¬ 
partment,  in  consequence  of  treaty  stipulations,  by  which  Sen¬ 
dai  was  not  open  to  the  settlement  of  foreigners  except  as 
teachers,  etc.,  he  taught  a  few  classes  in  the  Tohoku  Gakuin, 
to  entitle  him  to  a  residence  in  that  city.  Engaged  in  this  two¬ 
fold  work,  he  continued  until  the  Board,  at  its  meeting  in 
March,  1896,  directed  him  to  remove  to  Tokyo,  and  take  th 


i6 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


oversight  of  its  mission  work  in  that  city  ami  vicinity.  Thus 
was  Tokyo  constituted  a  second  princi])al  station.  Dr.  Moore 
removed  to  Tokyo  the  following  Septemher,  and  l)ecame  the 
Superintendent  of  Evangelistic  Work  for  the  southern  section 
of  the  general  field,  while  Jvev.  H.  K.  Miller  was  appointed  to 
that  position  for  the  northern  section.  Under  his  efficient  su¬ 
perintendence,  the  languishing  church  at  Tokyo,  formerly 
known  as  the  Nihon  Ikishi,  now  called  the  Kanda  Church,  was 
revived,  a  new  hnilding  erected,  and,  largely  increasing  in 
memhership,  has  hecome  a  vigorous  and  growing  congregation. 
(  )ne  or  two  congregations  in  the  vicinity  give  evidence  of 
growing  vitality. 

Rev.  Masayoshi  Oshikavva,  1).  I). 

In  view  of  the  pnaninent  i)art  Rev.  Dr.  (  Ishikawa  now  has 
in  our  work  in  japan,  and  the  determining  influence  he  ex¬ 
erted  upon  it  in  its  earlier  days,  a  sketch  of  its  history  would 
not  he  com|)Ietc  without  a  brief  narrative  of  his  share  in  it. 

11  is  ancestral  name  was  1  fashimoto.  lie  is  of  the  saintirai 
class  (military  retainers  under  the  old  feudal  system).  His 
father  was  a  man  of  rank  and  was  a  rigid  Confneianist.  Ilis 
mother  was  a  Rmhlhisl.  lie  was  born  December  i6,  1850,  and 
was  the  fifth  of  seven  children.  At  the  age  of  eleven,  agreeably 
to  the  custom  of  the  country,  he  was  adopted  into  the  Oshi- 
kawa  family,  and  tints  became  the  prospective  hnsltand  of  the 
daughter  of  the  house,  there  being  no  male  heir,  taking  its 
name  instead  of  his  own  patronimic.  The  marriage  took  place 
when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  About  a  year  after,  he  with 
several  other  selected  young  men  were  sent  Ity  their  feudal 
Iftrd  to  the  Imperial  English  College  at  Tokyo,  to  fit  them  for 
promineiit  service  in  the  government.  Not  finding  satisfactory 
facilities  in  that  institution  for  acquiring  a  thorough  and  prac¬ 
tical  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  he  was  removed  to 
Yokohama.  Although  bitterly  hostile  to  Christianity,  he  placed 
himself  under  the  tuition  of  Tvev.  James  Ballagh,  D.D.,  a  mis¬ 
sionary  of  the  Reformed  Cliurch  in  America,  to  learn  English, 
"'he  English  Bible  was  one  of  his  text-books.  He  read  and 


]]'ork  of  Foreign  Missions 


17 


studitHl  it  to  acquire  the  language,  tlespisiug  its  sacred  teach¬ 
ings.  But  what  with  a  precocious  luiud,  to  discern  the  facts 
of  Cliristian  civilization,  the  intense  devotion  of  the  teachers 
pravers  which  he  lieard,  and  the  study  of  the  Holy  Word,  the 
Spirit  of  God  opened  his  eyes  to  the  truth  and  he  became  a 
Christian.  His  baptism  was  followed  by  the  most  heathenish 
persecution  by  his  adopted  father,  who  but  for  the  intercession 
of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Oshikawa,  he  in  all  probability  would 
have  murdered  him,  which  under  the  then  existing  laws  he  had 
the  right  to  do. 

Separated  from  his  wife,  he  studied  theology  under  Rev.  S. 
R.  Brown,  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  at  Yokohama. 
1  le  was  active  as  an  Elder  in  the  First  Church  in  Yokohama, 
and  was  asked  to  become  its  regular  pastor,  but  he  declined. 
Subsequently  he  became  the  assistant  of  the  Christian  pastor  at 
Niigata,  263  miles  rvcst  of  Tokyo,  where  he  suffered  intense 
persecution.  During  the  third  year  (.)f  his  stay  in  Niigata  his 
wife,  with  the  tardy  permission  of  her  father,  rejoined  him. 
During  the  last  year  he  made  a  tour  of  observation,  visiting, 
besides  other  places,  the  city  of  Sendai,  a  place  of  some  sixty 
thousand  inhal)itants.  So  deeply  was  he  impressed  with  his 
favoral)le  reception  and  the  promising  outlook  that  he  felt  it 
his  duty  to  locate  there.  This  he  did  several  mouths  subse¬ 
quently.  After  several  years  of  labor  and  suffering,  having 
gathered  some  200  souls  into  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  he  felt 
the  need  of  help  and  cooperation.  To  secure  these  he  visited 
Tokyo  in  1885,  and  came  in  contact  with  our  Mission,  consist¬ 
ing  then  of  Revs.  Gring  and  Moore,  also  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy, 
who  had  just  arrived  from  America. 

Rev.  Oshikawa,  having  failed  in  his  endeavors  to  secure  aid 
from  other  Missions  to  establish  a  boys’  school  in  Sendai,  at 
once  besought  Rev.  Hoy  with  glowing  representations  and  most 
importunate  urgency  to  visit  Sendai.  Rev.  Hoy  yielded  to  this 
importunity,  visited  Sendai  and  vicinity,  and  the  result  was 
the  ultimate  removal  of  our  Mission  to  that  city,  and  the  in¬ 
auguration  of  the  educational  policy  of  our  work,  which  has 


i8  Historical  Sketch  of  the 

been  vigorously  pursued  ever  since,  and  which  has  produced 
such  large  and  blessed  results. 

After  the  establishment  of  our  Training  School,  afterwards 
named  the  d'ohoku  Gaknin,  Rev.  (  )shikawa  was  elected  Presi¬ 
dent,  in  deference  to  the  jealous  demands  of  the  Japanese,  in 
which  ])o.sition  he  continnes  to  render  most  efficient  service.  In 
addition  to  this  service,  finding  that  many  young  men  w  ho  w'ere 
desirous  of  availing  themselves  of  the  educational  facilities  of- 
fi'i'ecl  1)\'  our  institutions,  were  unable  to  .su])port  themselves, 
be  at  his  own  financial  risk  established  an  Industrial  Mome, 
into  which  ])oor  students  are  received,  who,  devoting  a  certain 
portion  of  their  time  to  industrial  pursuits,  earn  a  part  of  their 
support,  their  wages  going  into  the  treasury  of  the  Nome.  This 
Nome  recei\es  aid  from  charitabh-minded  Japanese,  and  re¬ 
cently  the  Hoard  a|)|>ropriated  .fioo,  to  cancel  the  balance  of 
.'in  annoying  debt.  Ilv  this  means  (|uite  a  nnmber  of  poor  stu¬ 
dents  are  enabled  to 
acipiire  an  education 
in  onr  t  b  r  i  s  t  i  a  n 
School,  a  nnmber  of 
whom  are  candidates 
for  the  ministry. 

Rev.  Al.  (bshikawa, 
I ).!).,  is  one  of  the 
foremost  and  ablest 
m  i  n  i  s  t  e  r  s  in  the 
Lbiited  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan.  He 
is  a  man  of  nnusual 
oratorical  powers  and 
widespread  inflnence. 
II is  intimate  associa¬ 
tion  with  our  work 
and  institutions  is  of 
great  importance  and 
benefit.  .\t  present 


REV.  W.  E.  HOY. 


1 1 'nr/:  of  foreign  Missions 


19 


ho  is  at  tho  head  of  a 
niovonioiit  for  the 
ailoption  of  a  system 
of  ediieation  in  Ko¬ 
rea.  'L'liis  douhiless 
will  ])rove  but  the 
stepiiing'  stone  to  the 
wider  diffvision  of 
l'hristianit^■.  At  their 
meeting  in  June. 
i8p5.  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Franklin 
and  INIarshall  Col¬ 
lege.  Laneaster,  Pa., 
conferred  the  honor¬ 
ary  degree  of  T^octor 
of  Divinit}'  on  Rev. 

AI.  ( tshikawa. 

Third  Missionary-Rev. 

W.  E.  Hoy. 

As  long  as  the  Afission  made  Tokyo  its  seat  and  centre  the 
two  missionaries  comprising  the  Alission,  Revs.  Gring  and 
AJoore,  confined  their  labors  to  evangelistic  work.  The  jjolicy 
of  sup|)lementing  this  with  educational  work,  in  the  way  of 
establishing  Christian  schools,  evas  considered  and  discussed. 
Some  preliminary  steps  were  taken  while  yet  in  Tokyo,  but  it 
was  not  until  after  the  removal  to  Sendai  that  the  educational 
policy,  now  so  characteristic  of  our  whole  work,  was  gradually 
adopted.  This  was  l)rought  al)Out  largely  by  the  untiring  la¬ 
bors  and  self-sacrificing  persistency  of  Rev.  W.  E.  Floy. 

Idev.  \V.  E.  Hoy  was  a])pointed  tbe  thir<l  missionary  April 
21,  1885.  He  was  born  June  4,  1858,  near  ATiffl inburg,  U^nion 
county,  Pa.  lie  is  a  graduate  of  Franklin  and  Alarsball  Col¬ 
lege  and  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Lancaster,  Pa.  He 
sailed  in  Eiovember,  1885,  and  reached  japan  Decemlier  i. 

The  second  day  after  his  arrival  in  Tokyo,  the  Alission  .still 


MRS.  W.  E.  HOY. 


20 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


being  in  that  city,  he  met  Rev.  M.  Oshikawa  at  the  house  of 
Rev.  James  Ballagli,  D.D.,  wlio  at  once  besought  him  most 
earnestly  to  locate  in  the  city  of  Sendai,  where  he  was  carrying 
on  a  most  successful  work.  Rev.  Hoy  promised  him  to  visit 
Sendai,  and  within  a  week  after  his  arrival  in  japan,  in  com¬ 
pany  with  Rev.  (Jring,  fulfilled  his  promise,  fie  was  impressed 
forcibly  with  the  “opportunity  of  the  hour,’^  as  he  expresses  it, 
and  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  invitation  to  locate  there.  On 
January  13,  1S86,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Sendai.  He  im¬ 
mediately  commenced  his  educational  work,  which  he  has  con¬ 
tinued  with  unflagging  enthusiasm  ever  since,  a  fuller  account 
of  which  will  be  found  in  the  narrative  further  on,  of  the 
founding  and  progress  of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin.  He  betook 
himself  to  the  acquisition  of  the  language  with  such  diligence 
and  success  that  on  the  first  anniversary  of  his  arrival  in  Japan 
he  was  able  to  preach  his  first  sermon  in  Japanese. 

Realizing  in  the  way  of  personal  experience  the  truth  of  the 
inspired  words,  “that  it  is  not  good  fcjr  man  to  be  alone,”  on 
1  tecember  27,  1887,  married  Miss  Mary  B.  Ault,  one  of  the 
ladies  sent  out  by  our  Board  to  establish  a  (jirls"  School  in 
Sendai,  who  has  since  proved,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word,  to 
be  a  “helpmeet”  to  him. 

Together  with  his  continuous  labors  as  a  teacher  in  the  edu¬ 
cational  institutions,  he  has  expended  large  and  efficient  work 
in  evangelistic  activity,  e.xtending  throughout  the  large  terri- 
t(jrv  included  in  our  field.  He  has  been  sorely  afflicted  with 
asthma  at  times,  with  a  severity  that  interrupteil  his  labors,  and 
e.xcited  apprehensions  that  it  might  disable  him.  But,  happily, 
with  the  Divine  blessing,  he  has  found  such  relief  as  leaves  him 
exposed  to  only  an  occasional  though  still  severe  attack. 

In  1893  Rev.  Iloy  commenced  the  publication  of  a  bi¬ 
monthly  magazine,  entitled  The  Japan  Evangelist ,  of  sixty 
pages  at  the  surprising! v  low  subscription  price  of  $i  per  year. 
It  is  filled  with  a  high  order  of  literature,  written  largely  by 
native  Japanese,  and  is  e.xceedingly  valuable  in  its  illustrations 
of  the  religious  life  and  thought  of  that  people. 


11 'or/:  of  foreign  I\Iissio)is 


21 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Board  in  March,  1893,  a  fur¬ 
lough  to  return  to  America  was  granted  Rev.  Hoy.  It  was 
not  until  in  Hecember.  1804,  however,  that  he  availed  himself 
of  this  privilege.  ^Meanwhile,  early  in  the  year  1894  he  sent 
Mrs.  Hoy  with  their  three  children,  accompanied  by  Miss 
Misao  Yoshida,  her  Bible  woman,  in  advance.  These  ladies 
have  since  traveled  widely  among  onr  churches  in  the  interest 
of  the  work  in  which  their  souls  seem  to  l)e  wholly  absorbed, 
to  the  lively  interest  and  great  profit  of  onr  home  Christians. 
l\ev.  Hoy  also  labored  diligently  in  visiting  onr  churches,  plead¬ 
ing  the  cause  for  which  alone  he  seems  to  live,  and  for  which 
he  seems  equally  willing  to  die.  Later  he  returned  to  Japan, 
and  resumed  his  work. 

Educational  Policy. 

L'p  to  December,  1885,  the  two  missionaries,  Revs.  Gring 
and  Moore,  besides  their  studies  in  acquiring  the  language, 
had  directed  their  efforts  principally  to  evangelistic  work,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  literary  work  on  the  ])art  of  Rev.  Gring,  already 
noted.  But  little  directly  educational  work  had  been  accom¬ 
plished  or  attempted.  Soon  after  Rev.  Hoy’s  arrival  in  De¬ 
cember,  1885,  Mission  effected  a  formal  organization  by 
the  election  of  Rev.  Gring,  President;  Rev.  Hoy,  Secretarv, 
and  Rev.  iMoore,  Treasurer.  This  organization  was  approved 
by  the  Board. 

In  December,  1885,  a  few  days  after  his  arrival.  Rev.  Hov, 
in  company  with  Rev.  Gring,  as  stated  above,  upon  the  urgent 
invitation  of  Rev.  Oshikawa,  visited  the  city  of  Sendai,  situated 
near  the  sea  coast,  some  220  miles  north  of  Tokyo.  So  deeply 
were  they  im])ressed  with  the  promising  outlook  for  a  success¬ 
ful  work,  that  Rev.  Hoy  at  once  resolved  to  make  it  his  resi¬ 
dence,  which  re.solution  he  carried  into  effect  on  the  13th  of 
the  following  month  of  January,  1886.  This  step  was  snbse- 
(inently  approved  by  the  Board.  He  hastened  to  confer  with 
the  Board  as  to  the  character  of  the  work  to  which  he  should 
specially  direct  his  efforts,  whether  evangelistic  or  teaching. 
At  the  time  the  Board,  not  feeling  itself  prepared  to  adopt  an 


22  Historical  Sleet ch  of  the 

educational  policy,  directed  him  to  spend  his  lal)(.)rs  primarily 
in  evans'clistie  work,  hnt  that  if  favoriim'  circumstances  should 
seem  to  reephre  it  the  Hoard  would  approve  his  adding  teach¬ 
ing  to  evangelistic  labor. 

At  the  onset  he  fonnd  himself  .surronnded  l>y  some  thirty 
young  men.  Some  for  the  study  of  the  Bihle;  others  to  learn 
the  Kngiish  language,  d'he  thought  of  estahlishing  a  regular 
Christian  school,  so  urgently  pressed  hv  Rev.  (  Ishikawa,  took 
deeper  and  deeper  hold  u])on  his  mind,  lie  and  Rev.  (Rhi- 
kawa,  in  most  devont  prayer,  sought  guidance  fnrm  oil*  high. 
1  le  hesonght  the  Hoard  to  formall)'  estahlish  snch  a  school,  hut 
it  w  as  not  yet  pre])ared  to  inaugurate  such  a  movement.  (  )]>- 
pressed  with  j)er|)lexity,  they  continued  to  pray.  When,  how¬ 
ever,  one  day  Rev.  (  )shikawa  came  t(.)  him  with  the  tw'elve 
pieces  of  silver  contrihnted  hy  the  poor  wndenv  (it  wais  all  she 
had.  she  had  saved  it  to  defray  her  own  funeral  expenses),  to 

estahlish  a  Christian 
school,  they  regarded 
it  as  a  token  of  divine 
favor,  and  in  reliance 
u])on  Hrovidence  they 
recsolvcd  to  go  for¬ 
ward.  Rev.  Hoy  soon 
gathered  about  him 
six  young  men  who 
desired  to  be  in¬ 
structed  and  trained 
to  preach  the  Gospel, 
h'or  one  year  he  sup¬ 
ported  these  poor 
young  men  himself, 
at  such  cost  of  self- 
sacrifice  as  at  times  to 
trench  upon  the  nec¬ 
essaries  of  life  and 
REV.  D.  B.  scHNEDER.  Ordinary  comfort.  He 


}]\)rk  of  Jordan  Missions 


iiK't  tlu-ni  in  a  pnor 
Japaiu'se  lunisi.',  in  thn 
most  solilar\  iiart  ol 
tlio  citw  withonl  a 
stove  '11  the  winter, 
warniiiii;'  their  hands 
over  a  little  charcoal 
hre.  *\.nd  yet  he  pro¬ 
nounces  it  to  he  the 
happiest  year  of  his 
school  life.  This  was 
the  inception  of  what 
was  at  first  called  the 
Training  School,  and 
later  The  Tohokii 
Gaktiin. 

At  the  end  of  the 
first  year  the  Board 
came  to  his  relief  hy 
assuming  the  support 

t)f  the  School.  In  the  fall  of  iSS/,  for  several  months,  the 
School  met  in  a  small  Japanese  hut,  on  the  s])Ot  wdiere  his  resi¬ 
dence  now  stands.  From  there  it  removeil  to  the  old  Buddhist 
temple,  which  is  still  occupied  hy  the  Sendai  congregation.  In 
August,  1888,  Rev.  Hoy  purchased  the  main  part  of  the 
ground  now  occnjiied  hy  the  Tohokn  Gaknin,  and  erected 
thereon  the  Rev.  John  Ault  ^Memorial  1  lall,  all  at  his  own  per¬ 
sonal  cost.  Early  in  Decemher,  r8S8,  the  School  removed 
into  the  [Memorial  llall,  where  it  remained  until  Se])teml)cr  18, 
rS9i,  when  it  moved  into  the  present  Tohokn  Gaknin  hnilding. 

At  first  the  School  com])rising  a  Preparatorv  ami  Collegiate 
course,  was  called  The  Training  School,  ddie  first  class  com¬ 
pleted  its  course,  in  1890.  The  following  year  the  Theologi¬ 
cal  Department  was  estahlished,  and  the  three  Departments 
were  comprehendeil  under  the  name  of  the  Tohokn  Gaknin. 
(Northeastern  Educational  Institution.) 


MRS.  D.  B.  SCHNEDEJl. 


24 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


Fourth  Missionary  Rev.  I),  fi.  Schneder. 

In  1887  in  consequence  of  the  removal  of  Rev.  Moore  to 
Yainagata,  as  already  mentioned,  and  a  furlough  being  granted 
to  Rev.  Gring  to  return  to  America  (who  during  his  furlough 
resigned  his  commission  as  missionary  under  our  Board  and 
retired  permanently  ),  together  with  the  large  growth  of  the 
Training  School  requiring  an  increase  of  the  teaching  force, 
the  Board  felt  itself  under  the  necessity  of  sending  out  an  ad¬ 
ditional  missionary.  .Vccordingly  Rev.  D.  B.  Schneder  was 
appointed  July  7,  1887,  and  reached  Japan  with  his  wife,  who 
was  Miss  Anna  M.  Shoenherger,  of  Reading,  Pa.,  on  Decem¬ 
ber  2 1 ,  1 887. 

Rev.  I).  B.  Schneder  was  burn  at  Bowmansville,  Lancaster, 
county,  I'a.,  March  23,  1857.  lie  graduated  in  Franklin  and 
.Marshall  College  and  the  Theological  Seminary,  Lancaster, 

Pa.  He  had  several 
years’  pastoral  expe¬ 
rience  before  going  to 
Japan,  lie  most  ef- 
liciently  occui)ies  the 
chair  of  Dogmatic 
rheology  in  the  To- 
hoku  Gaknin.  At  the 
|)resent  time  he  is  en¬ 
joying  fairly  good 
health,  having  several 
months  since  recov¬ 
ered  from  a  violent 
attack  of  typhoid  fe¬ 
ver,  which  at  the 
time  was  gravely 
feared  wmuld  prove 
fatal.  But  a  gracious 
Providence  has  mer¬ 
cifully  raised  him  up 


KRV.  HEN'KY  K.  MILLER. 


Il'ork  of  Foreign  Missions 


25 


again  to  prolonged 
nsof  Illness.  Besides 
his  severe  labors  as 
professor  in  the  To¬ 
ll  okn  Gakiiin,  he 
shares  his  full  part 
with  his  associates  in 
evangelistic  and  Sun¬ 
day-school  work.  He 
is  a  man  of  profound 
thought  and  untiring 
industry.  The  Board 
has  already  granted 
him  the  usual  fur¬ 
lough,  and  he  will  re¬ 
turn  to  America  after 
Rev.  Hoy's  return  to 
Japan  in  1896. 

Rev.  Hoy  returned 
to  Japan  in  the  early 
summer  of  1896.  Rev.  Schneder  left  Japan  on  his  furlough, 
reaching  America,  with  his  family,  the  middle  of  the  follow¬ 
ing  September.  After  a  brief  rest,  he  visited  Germany  to  pur¬ 
sue  some  university  studies,  for  his  fuller  equipment  for  his 
duties  as  Professor  of  Dogunatics  in  the  Tohoku  Gakuin.  He 
returned  to  America  early  in  the  spring  of  1897.  From  this 
time,  with  but  slight  interruption  until  his  return  to  the  field, 
he  most  industriously  visited  throughout  the  Church,  pleading 
the  cause  to  which  he  has  consecrated  his  life.  Returning  to 
Japan,  with  his  family,  he  landed  at  Yokohama,  May  3.  1898. 

For  several  years  previous  to  her  return  to  this  country,  Mrs. 
Schneder  had  been  at  the  head  of  a  Native  Woman’s  Society, 
whose  object  was  to  gather  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  new 
church  building  to  take  the  place  of  the  old,  delapidatcd 
Buddhist  temple  in  which  the  congregation  worshiped.  The 
large  advance  in  prices  in  Japan  threatened  the  discouraging 


.MRS.  HENRY  K.  MILLER. 


26 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


postponement  of  the  realization  of  their  purpose,  unless  aid 
could  he  secured  iu  the  home  Church.  W'ith  the  approhation 
of  the  Hoard,  she,  while  in  this  country  on  fnrlougii,  traveled 
widely  in  the  Church,  soliciting  sj)ecial  contributions  in  aid 
of  this  urgent  want.  Such  was  the  response  she  met  that  she 
was  enabled  joyously  to  return  to  Japan  with  sufficient  means 
to  insure  the  success  of  her  cherished  enterprise. 

P'ifth  Missionary  Rev.  Henr^*  K.  Miller. 

In  conse(|uence  of  the  large  and  ra])id  increase  in  the  num- 
her  (if  stud(.-nts  after  the  occipiancx  of  the  new  d'ohokn  ( iaknin 
I’.uilding  in  Seiitemlier,  the  necessity  for  the  further  in¬ 

crease  of  the  teaching  force  hecame  apparent.  The  Hoard  felt 
itself  unable,  for  want  of  ad(.'(|uate  means,  to  commissiem  new 
missionaries,  until  the  urgenc\-  hecame  so  imperative  that, 
"walking  by  faith,"  it  ventured,  without  the  means  of  support 

in  sight,  to  appoint 
one yidditional  person. 

'I'hat  ])erson  was 
Mr.  llenry  K.  Miller, 
Reading,  Ha.  lie  was 
horn  in  Lebanon,  Ha., 
Xovemher  ().  i866. 

lie  is  a  graduate  of 
h'ranklin  and  IMar- 
shall  College,  Lancas¬ 
ter,  1  ‘a.,  ami  of  Union 
d'heological  Semi¬ 
nary,  Xew  York  City. 
1  le  was  appointed 
July  13,  1892.  The 
farewell  services  were 
held  in  St.  Paul’s 
Reformed  Church, 
R  e  a  d  i  n  g,  Pa.,  on 
KEY.  SYLV.v.Nus  s.  s.vYDER.  wlticli  occasioH  lie 


ll'orlc  of  I'oicigii  Missions 


27 


was;  ordained  to  the 
i^’ospel  ministry  by  a 
eoinnhttee  appointed 
for  tliat  purpose  by 
the  Sebnylkill  Classis, 
of  wbieb  be  is  a  mem¬ 
ber.  He  sailed  from 
San  Franciseo,  Cab, 

Septemlier  27.  1892. 
and  arrived  at  \  oko- 
bama,  Japan,  Octo¬ 
ber  15,  1892.  After 
bis  arrival  in  Sendai 
be  at  once  entered  up¬ 
on  the  work  of  teach¬ 
ing  in  the  Tohokii 
Gaknin,  imparting  in- 
strnction  to  surji  stu¬ 
dents  as  bad  acquired 
the  English  language, 
while  at  the  same  time  be  entered  diligently  ui)on  the  task  of 
learning  the  Japanese  language.  He  engaged  zealously  in 
Sunday-school  work,  and,  aided  by  bis  personal  teacher  of 
the  language  as  interpreter,  be  entered  upon  evangelistic  work. 
He  established  a  Snnday-scbool  and  preaching  point  at 
IMiyamacbi,  a  suburb  of  the  city  of  Sendai,  but  soon  discov¬ 
ered  that,  to  make  bis  labors  at  this  j)oint  a  success,  a  chapel 
was  a  necessity.  For  the  erection  of  sneb  a  building  the  i\Iis- 
sion  voted  him  a  grant  of  300  yen  ('al)ont  $150).  which  grant 
was  approved  lyv  the  Board.  Recently,  to  the  glad  snrprise  of 
Rev.  IMiller,  the  Snnday-scbool  of  St.  Panl’s  Reformed 
Cbnrcb,  Reading,  Ba.,  of  which  be  bad  been  a  member,  made 
a  donation  of  $800  for  the  erection  of  this  chapel,  which  has 
since  been  accomplished. 

Rev.  Miller  was  one  of  the  regular  professors  in  the  To- 
boku  Gakuin,  in  which  capacity  be  served  until  June,  1896, 


MRS.  SYLVANUS  S.  SNYDER. 


28 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


when  at  his  own  request  he  >vas  relieved,  to  enter  upon  the 
Evangelistic  A\'ork.  Snhsequently,  upon  the  removal  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Moore  to  Tokyo,  and  his  resignation  of  the  General  Su¬ 
perintendency  of  Evangelistic  W  ork,  Rev.  Miller  was  ap¬ 
pointed  Superintendent  of  that  work,  for  the  northern  section 
of  the  field,  while  Rev.  Dr.  Moore  remained  Superintendent 
of  the  Southern  section. 

Rev.  If.  K.  Miller  was  married,  April  ii,  1898,  to  Miss  Sa¬ 
rah  Spaulding  Sprague,  of  Kioto,  of  the  American  Protestant 
Episcopal  Mission. 

.\t  the  time  of  the  appointment  of  Rev.  11.  K.  Miller  as 
missionary  the  Board  was  without  the  means  either  for  his 
outfit  or  for  his  support  after  reaching  his  field  of  labor.  The 
first  want  was  providentially  provided  fin'  by  the  payment  of 
$1,000  by  Mrs.  Eouisa  W  irt,  Hanover,  Pa.,  in  lieu  of  a  be¬ 
quest  of  that  amount,  made  by  her  deceased  husliand.  Elder 
Henry  Wirt,  which  bequest  had  failed  because  of  a  legal  de¬ 
fect  in  tbe  will.  The  second  want  was  met  by  tbe  Sunday- 
schools  of  the  Church  taking  shares  or  Ijlocks  of  $5  per  an¬ 
num,  sufficient  for  his  siqiport.  He  is  accordingly  designated 
tbe  Siindax-school  Missionary.  .Miout  237  of  our  Sunday- 
.M-latols  share  in  this  praiseworthy  .scheme. 

The  Christian  Kndeavor  Missionary  Rev.  Sylvanus  S.  Snyder. 

'Hie  continued  prosperity  of  our  work  ceased  not  to  press 
for  further  reintWreement  of  (jur  band  of  workers  in  the  field. 
Meanwhile  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  of  our  Church, 
one  of  whose  primary  aims  is  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
Missions,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  projtosed  to  tbe  Board  that 
they  would  support  an  additional  missionary  to  Japan,  on  con¬ 
dition  that  he  l)e  designated  The  Christian  Endeavor  Mission¬ 
ary.  The  Board  gladly  accepted  the  proposition  and  hastened 
to  issue  its  call  for  applicants  for  the  appointment.  In  response 
sixteen  young  men  made  answer.  Of  this  number  the  choice 
fell  upon  Mr.  .Sylvanus  .S.  Snyder  as  the  C.  E.  Missionary, 
and  i\fr.  Christopher  Noss  as  an  additional  Missionary. 


IP’ork  of  Foreign  Missions 


29 


Siiytlcr  proceeded  immediately  to  prepare  to  enter  upon 
the  held  of  his  labor  in  Japan.  He  was  born  in  Columbiana, 
t 'bio,  Cletober  23,  1867.  He  is  a  graduate  of  Wooster  Uni¬ 
versity,  Wooster,  Ohio,  and  of  the  Heidelberg  Theological 
Seminary,  Tiffin,  (Jbio.  The  farewell  services  were  held  in 
Trinity  Reformed  Church,  Canton,  Ohio,  September  5,  1894, 
at  which  time  he  was  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  by  a 
Committee  of  the  East  Ohio  Classis,  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  Before  his  departure  for  Japan 
he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  M.  A.  Souder,  of  near  Lan- 
dtsburg.  Perry  county.  Pa.  They  sailed  for  Japan  from  Van¬ 
couver,  B.  C.,  September  17,  1894,  and  arrived  at  Yokohama, 
Japan,  October  2,  1894.  In  consequence  of  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy's 
departure  to  America,  on  furlough,  soon  after  his  arrival  at 
Sendai,  he  was  at  once  employed  in  the  Tohoku  Gakuin  to 
teach  some  classes  that  were  competent  to  receive  instruction 
in  the  English  language,  in  which  service,  together  with  his 
study  of  the  Japanese  language,  he  is  still  engaged. 

The  Industrial  Home  becoming  embarrassed  in  its  finances, 
with  the  consent  of  Rev.  Oshikawa,  its  founder,  the  Mission 
assumed  its  control  and  management.  It  was  reorganized 
with  Rev.  Oshikaw-'a  as  President  and  Rev.  S.  S.  Snyder, 
Treasurer  and  General  Manager.  Under  the  skillful  and  pru¬ 
dent  administration  of  Rev.  Snyder,  the  financial  embarrass¬ 
ments  have  been  overcome;  and  by  the  very  helpful  liberality 
of  Messrs.  Harry  M.,  Oliver  K.  and  John  W.  Souder,  broth¬ 
ers  of  Mrs.  S.  S.  Snyder,  six  adjacent  lots  in  the  city  of  Sen¬ 
dai,  were  purchased  for  the  Industrial  Home ;  and  l)y  the  sale 
of  Japanese  curios  in  this  country  under  the  management  of 
Rev.  Snyder,  funds  were  secured  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable 
building  on  said  lots,  thus  securing  a  permanent  home  for  the 
Institution.  It  is  now  in  successful  operation  with  between 
70  and  80  inmates. 

Seventh  Missionary — Rev.  Christopher  Noss. 

Although  seven  male  missionaries  have  been  appointed  by 


30 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


the  Ijoanl,  yet  in  consequence  of  tlie  retirement  of  Rev.  A.  D. 
( iring,  witli  the  arrival  of  Air.  Noss  on  the  field,  the  force  will 
comprise  hut  six,  besides  the  two  ladies  in  the  Girls’  School. 

Mr.  Ghristopher  Noss,  missionary-elect,  is  a  graduate  of 
hranklin  and  Marshall  College,  and  in  1894  of  the  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary  at  Lancaster,  La.  lie  is  the  son  of  Rev.  J.  G. 
N(js.s,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  at  New  Holland,  Lan¬ 
caster  comity,  i’a.  After  his  appointment,  with  the  sanction 
of  the  Hoard,  he  went  to  llerlin,  ( iermany,  for  a  year's  [lost- 
gradnate  course  in  the  University  in  that  city.  Completing 
his  |)ost-graduate  course,  he  returned  to  the  Lhiited  .States  and 
was  regnlarh  commissioned  a  missionary  to  ja|)an,  hy  the 
lf\ecnti\e  t  ommittee  at  its  regular  (juarterly  meeting,  con- 
wiH’d  in  1  larrishnrg.  I’a.,  .Septemher  10,  18(45,  with  instruc¬ 
tions  to  rejiair  to  his  field  of  lahor  in  .Seiuhii,  Japan,  not  later 


than  1  feeemher  1,  i8(y5.  <  )n  the  22(\  of  (  tetoher  Mr.  Noss  was 


REV.  CHRISTOPHER  NOSS. 


m  a  r  r  i  e  d  to  Miss 
Laura  Iloyer,  of 
;\(|nashicola,  Carhon 
conntw  I’a.  'I'he  fare¬ 
well  services  were  ob¬ 
served  in  the  Reform¬ 
ed  Church,  Lrederick, 
Md.,  on  the  evening 
of  (  tetoher  23d,  on 
wdiich  occasion  he 
was  ordained  to  the 
gosjiel  ministry  h)'  a 
cotnmittee  appointed 
for  that  pnqiose  hy 
the  Classis  of  Mary¬ 
land.  These  services 
were  held  during  the 
annual  meeting  of  the 
.Synod  <af  the  Potomac 
held  in  that  Church. 


11 'dtA'  of  Foreign  Missions 


31 


Eighth  A\issionary 

Paul  1..  Cierliartl. 

llu'  necessity  for 
the  estahlislunent  of 
a  C'hair  of  I'.nglish 
Language  aiul  Liter¬ 
ature  in  the  'L'ohokn 
Laknin  was  keenh' 
felt,  anil  the  ^Mission 
having  urgently  peti¬ 
tioned  the  Hoard  to 
send  out  a  snitalde 
person  to  occupy  that 
Lhair,  in  resjionse  it 
coinnhssioned  ]\Ir. 
Paul  Lamhert  Ger¬ 
hard,  of  Lancaster, 
Pa.,  as  a  missionary 
teacher. 


MRS.  CHRISTOPHER  NOSS. 


Mr.  Gerhard  is  a  graduate  of  Franklin  and  Marshall  Col¬ 
lege,  and  at  the  time  of  his  ap|)ointment  was  a  memher  of  the 
^Middle  Class  in  the  d'heological  .Seminary,  Lancaster,  Pa.  lie 
sailed  from  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  Dec.  ly,  nSyC,  and  landed  at 
Yokohama,  jajian,  January  7,  iSy/.  lie  is  an  nnordained 
missionary. 


The  Tohoku  (iakuin. 

'Phe  Institution  comprises  a  Preyiaratory  course  of  three 
3’ears ;  a  Collegiate  course  of  four  years,  and  a  'I'hcological 
course  of  three  years;  or,  as  recently  changed,  into  a  lower 
course  of  five,  years  and  a  higher  course  of  tw'O  years.  Yhe 
higher  course  being  divided  into  literary  and  scientific 
courses.  The  Theological  course  remains  as  it  was.  This 
change  has  heen  made,  to  he  more  in  harmony  with  the  general 
educational  system  of  the  country,  d'he  nnmher  of  students 


32 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


in  all  the  departments 
in  i894-’95  was  a  lit¬ 
tle  less  than  the  year 
preceding,  from  140 
to  150.  At  the  open¬ 
ing  of  the  spring 
term  of  1895  twenty- 
two  new  students  en¬ 
tered,  and  there  were 
some  ten  more  appli¬ 
cants.  (.)f  these  30 
were  candidates  for  the 
ministry.  (Jf  these 
last,  27  are  supported 
hy  American  patrons, 
who  contribute  $60*  a 
year  for  this  purpose. 

Some  eight  gradu¬ 
ates  have  left  the 
I'heological  Depart¬ 
ment  of  the  Tohoku  (  iakuin  and  have  gone  into  the  field  as 
evangelists.  Another  class  graduates  this  year  (1895).  Each 
succeeding  year  a  larger  or  smaller  class  of  graduates  will 
go  out. 

hor  the  last  two  or  three  years  the  uumher  of  students  has 
exceeded  the  capacit}'  of  the  buildings.  Some  rooms  in  the 
dormitory  had  to  be  used  as  recitation  rooms.  There  is  a  felt 
necessity  for  larger  facilities  in  this  regard,  which,  should 
the  numlier  of  students  continue  to  increase,  will  become 
urgent. 

I  he  F'aculty. 

The  Faculty  of  the  Preparatory,  Collegiate  and  Theologi¬ 
cal  Departments  consists  of  the  following  members ; 

Rev.  Masayoshi  (Jshik.vwa,  President  and  Professor  of 


PAUL  LAMBERT  GERHARD. 


Recently  this  cost  has  been  reduced  to  S45.00  a  year. 


Work  of  Foreign  Missions  33 

Biblical  iiistructiun,  and  Lecturer  on  Apologetics  and  Practi¬ 
cal  Theology. 

Rev.  W'li.LiA.M  E.  blov,  Professor  of  Exegetical  Theology, 
Psychology  and  Greek. 

Re\'.  SvL\’.\xi'S  S.  Snyder,  Professor  of  Biblical  Study. 

Rew  D.wid  B.  Schneder,  Professor  of  Systematic  The¬ 
ology  aiul  Philosophy. 

Rev.  Christopher  Noss,  Professorof  Ethics  and  Apologetics. 

INIr.  P.vul  L.  Gerhard,  Professor  of  English  Language  and 
Literature. 

Ria'.  Sukev.vsu  Ishida,  Professor  of  Exegetical  and  Histori¬ 
cal  Theology. 

INIr.  Seichi  Terasawa,  Professor  of  Systematic  Theology, 
Comparative  Religion,  and  Higher  Translation. 

i\lR.  IwAE  Iriye,  Professor  of  German  Language,  Logic 
and  Sociology. 

jMr.  Teizaburo  Demura,  Professor  of  Translation. 

IMr.  Sadaoki  FuivUzawa,  Professor  of  Chinese  Language 
and  Literature. 

IMr.  Yasumori  Fukada,  Professor  of  Japanese  Language 
and  Literature. 

Mr.  Yogoro  Kato,  Professor  of  Natural  Sciences  and 
Higher  Mathematics. 

Mr.  Shiro  Tanaka,  Professor  of  Mathematics. 

Mr.  Kusuma  Doi,  Professor  of  History  and  Geography. 

Mr.  xCwAsni  Fuse,  Tutor  of  Drawing. 

Mr.  Tetsuzo  Akiyu,  Professor  of  Gymnastics. 

Mr.  Shinsui  Kawai,  Professor  of  Japanese  Composition. 

In  1891  the  Jajianese  and  American  friends  of  Elder  R.  F. 
Kelker,  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  established  the  Rudolph  F.  Ivelker 
Memorial  Library,  which  now  contains  some  3,600  volumes, 
with  the  number  increasing  from  year  to  year. 

Mr.  Dengoro  Takahashi. 

A  most  interesting  and  sad  experience  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mr. 
Dengoro  Takahashi  one  of  the  evangelists  sent  out  from  our 
Tohoku  Gakuin. 


TOHOKU  GAKUIN,  SENDAI.  JAPAN. 


IVork  of  Foreign  Missions 


35 


There  is  a  ehain  of  islands,  called  Chishima  or  Kuriles,  ex¬ 
tending  from  the  Hokkaido  (the  most  northerly  of  the  large 
Japanese  islands),  to  the  southern  point  of  Ivamtschatka.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  most  southerly  of  these  islands, 
they  are  uninhabited,  bleak  and  desolate.  Japan  has  been  seek¬ 
ing  to  colonize  them. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  an  officer  by  the  name  of  Gunji,  who 
had  been  a  Ideutenant  in  the  Japanese  navy,  left  Tokyo,  with 
a  company  of  about  one  hundred  men,  on  a  colonizing  expe¬ 
dition  to  these  islands.  He  had  occasion  to  stop  on  the  coast, 
near  Sendai  to  repair  his  vessel.  He  visited  Sendai,  and  by 
previous  arrangement  met  Rev.  M.  Oshikawa.  After  the 
most  importunate  solicitation  on  the  part  of  the  latter,  the 
Lieutenant  consented  to  take  with  him  a  Christian  missionary, 
if  he  could  give  him  a  young  man  who  was  perfectly  reliable. 
Rev.  Oshikawa  turning  to  Mr.  Takahashi,  who  was  present 
as  the  messenger  who  had  acted  between  the  two  men,  said, 
“Here  is  one.”  Lieut.  Gunji  said,  “All  right,  I  will  take  him.” 

l\Ir.  Takahashi  was  the  beneficiary  of  the  Salem  Reformed 
Mission  Band,  Allentown,  Pa.  He  had  not  yet  entirely  com¬ 
pleted  his  theological  course,  but  with  the  approbation  of  the 
Faculty  he  consented  to  go.  He  was  a  devout  Christian,  sin¬ 
cere  to  the  core,  straightforward,  fearless,  simple  in  his  habits, 
strong  in  body,  and  amply  able  and  willing  to  endure  hard¬ 
ships.  Hasty  arrangements  for  his  departure  were  made,  his 
fellow-students  contributing,  and  the  Toadies’  Aid  Society  of 
Sendai  Church  emptied  their  treasury  of  eight  ycji  of  their 
hard  earnings  to  provide  him  an  outfit.  TTe  joined  the  expe¬ 
dition  at  Hakodate  and  sailed  with  it  to  its  destination. 

Communication  with  these  i.slands  was  very  infrequent,  and 
all  was  supposed  to  he  well  with  the  colony  until  in  June,  1894, 
a  war  vessel  with  supplies  visited  the  island,  Shashikotan  by 
name,  and  in  about  the  same  latitude  with  Newfoundland  in  the 
Atlantic.  A  reconnoitering  party  came  upon  a  hut,  and  on  en¬ 
tering  found  poor  Takahashi  and  three  of  his  companions  ly¬ 
ing  on  the  floor  dead.  From  a  diary  kept  by  the  party  and 
found  in  the  hut,  it  was  supposed  that  they  had  died  about  De¬ 
cember  10,  1893.  The  conjecture  as  to  the  cause  of  their  death 


36 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


is  that  they  were  smothered  by  the  fumes  of  a  charcoal  fire, 
made  to  cook  their  rice;  the  person  making  the  fire  in  the 
morning  returning  to  his  bed,  falling  asleep  with  his  sleeping 
companions,  without  ventilating  the  room.  If  the  hypothesis 
is  correct,  they  had  laid  there  from  December  to  June,  the  ex¬ 
treme  cold  preventing  decomposition.  The  intelligence  of  his 
death  made  a  profound  impression  upon  his  Christian  friends 
and  associates.  It  was  received  by  Rev.  Dr.  Oshikawa  while 
in  attendance  upon  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  of  Japan.  They  had  been  engaged  in  a  heated  dis¬ 
cussion  and  excitement  prevailed.  l!ut  when  the  sad  telegram 
was  read  to  the  body,  there  was  a  general  revulsion  of  feeling, 
and  tears  tlowed  down  over  cheeks  which  but  a  little  while 
liefore  were  flushed  with  the  excitement  of  debate.  A  move¬ 
ment  w'as  contemplated  to  organize  a  Takahashi  ^Memorial 
Missionary  Society,  to  go  forward  under  the  inspiration  of  his 
example  of  self-devotion,  to  accomplish  the  work  of  saving 
.sonls,  fin'  which  he  lai<l  down  his  young  life.  He  was  looked 
upon  as  a  Christian  hero. 

I  he  (iirls’  School. 

The  importance  ol  inaugurating  this  very  imjMjrtant  branch 
of  missionary  service  was  felt  l)efore  the  .Mission  was  removed 
from  Tokyo.  But  no  effective  stejjs  were  taken  for  establish¬ 
ing  a  regularly  c(|nip])ed  scIkjoI  until  the  settlement  in  Sendai. 
'I'he  Board,  imisressed  with  the  urgency  of  the  call  in  this  di¬ 
rection,  hastened  to  provide  for  it  by  the  ai)pointnient  of  two 
ladies,  to  whom  was  committed  the  service  of  estal)lishing  a 
(  iirls’  School  in  the  city  of  Sendai,  Japan.  Fhese  ladies  were 
.Miss  l.izzie  R.  I’oorbaugh  and  Miss  Mary  B.  Anlt. 

Miss  I’oorbaugh  is  the  daughter  of  an  esteemed  Elder  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  Berlin,  I’a.  She  graduated  from  the  High 
School,  York,  Pa.,  and  subsequently  taught  with  success  in 
the  public  schools. 

Miss  Ault  is  the  daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  John  Ault,  of  the 
Reformed  Church.  She  graduated  from  the  Keystone  State 
Normal  School,  Kutztown,  Pa. 


TllK  GIRLS’  SCHOOL,  SLNDAI.  JAPAN. 


38 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


These  ladies  were  appointed  April  21,  1885,  but  in  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  low  state  of  the  Board’s  treasury,  they  did  not 
sail  for  Japan  until  in  June,  1886.  They  reached  Yokohama 
July  I,  1886.  Arriving  in  Japan  the  ladies  were  instructed  to 
proceed  to  Sendai,  where  their  coming  for  the  purpose  of  es¬ 
tablishing  a  Girls'  School  had  been  announced  by  Rev. 
\\'.  E.  Hoy.  No  ditficulty  was  experienced  in  securing  schol¬ 
ars,  as  a  general  desire  prevailed  to  learn  the  English  lan¬ 
guage.  A  Japanese  house  was  rented  for  school  purposes  and 
a  number  of  pupils  were  gathered  in.  Among  these  were  sev¬ 
eral  girls  whom  Rev.  Gring  had  placed  in  the  Graham  Semi¬ 
inary  in  Tokyo,  one  of  whom  was  Miss  Yoshida,  later  Mrs. 
Hoy's  Bible  Woman,  until  a  school  of  our  own  might  be  es¬ 
tablished.  The  school  soon  filled  to  overflorving.  The  num¬ 
ber  of  scholars  at  one  time  reached  some  eighty.  When,  how¬ 
ever,  the  reaction  against  foreigners  occurred,  the  number  de¬ 
creased.  Tlie  ladies  with  most  praiseworthy  diligence  and  de¬ 
voted  zeal,  l)etook  themselves  to  their  work  and  succeeded  in 
establishing  an  admirable  and  efficient  school,  which  lias  pros¬ 
pered  and  grown  into  one  of  the  grandest  features  of  our  for¬ 
eign  work. 

In  conseipience  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  school  and  the 
discovery  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  Japanese  rented  house, 
as  a  healthy  residence  for  the  American  ladies,  early  in  1887 
the  Board  called  upon  the  Ghurch  through  the  church  papers 
for  siiecial  contributions  for  the  purchase  of  necessary  grounds 
and  the  erection  of  suitalde  buildings  for  the  school  and  the 
residence  of  the  ladies.  In  response,  Rev.  J.  I.  Swander,  D.D., 
and  his  estimable  wife,  of  Tiffin,  (Jhio,  contributed  the  sum  of 
eleven  hundred  dollars,  which,  with  $150  added  by  others,  se¬ 
cured  the  purchase  of  the  grounds  now  occupied  by  the  Girls’ 
School  building  and  the  ladies’  residence.  Further  contriliu- 
tions  for  the  purpose  being  received,  the  erection  of  the  pro¬ 
posed  buildings  was  entered  upon  in  1888,  and  in  due  time  the 
present  buildings  were  completed.  For  the  desks  and  chairs, 
which  are  of  a  modern  and  beautiful  design,  with  which  the 


Worlc  of  I'orcigii  Missions 


30 


school  room  is  fitted  up,  the  Church  stands  indebted  to  Elder 
llcnjaiuin  Kuhns,  Dal  ton,  Ohio,  who  furnished  them  at  a  cost 
to  himself  of  $706. 

Resignation  of  Miss  Mary  B.  Ault  and  the  Appointment  of 
Hiss  Emma  F.  Poorbaugh. 

In  October,  1887,  the  Board  received  the  resignation  of  Miss 
Marv  Jh  Ault  as  a  missionary  in  its  service,  with  a  view  to 
her  marriage  to  Rev.  W.  E.  Hoy,  the  resignation  to  take  effect 
July  I,  1888. 

This  gave  rise  to  the  necessity  of  sending  out  another  lady 
to  take  her  place  in  the  Girls'  School.  Accordingly,  on  Jan¬ 
uary  31,  1888,  Miss  Emma  F.  Poorbaugh,  of  Berlin,  Pa.,  sis¬ 
ter  of  IMiss  Lizzie  R.  Poorbaugh,  already  in  the  school,  was 
appointed.  She  sailed  for  Japan  in  June  following,  and 
reached  her  field  of  labor  July  9,  1888. 

More  Help  Needed. 

In  due  time,  occupying  the  newly-erected  buildings,  the 
school,  under  the  efficient  and  skillful  care  and  management  of 
the  two  sisters,  aided  by  several  native  assistant  teachers,  con¬ 
tinued  to  fiourish  and  produce  blessed  results  in  winning  the 
souls  of  some  of  its  scholars  to  Christ.  The  labors  of  the  la¬ 
dies  were  onerous  and  not  without  injurious  effect  upon  their 
health  and  vigor,  and  it  was  felt  that  a  just  consideration  for 
their  comfort  and  efficiency,  as  also  the  increasing  demands 
of  the  school,  called  for  at  least  one  additional  American 
teacher,  d'he  Board,  in  view  of  this  new  want,  felt  itself 
greatly  embarrassed  in  consequence  of  the  shortage  in  its  fi¬ 
nances.  M'hile  in  this  dilemma,  by  the  inspiration  of  a  gra¬ 
cious  Providence,  the  Woman’s  Missionary  Society,  G.  S., 
stepped  forward  and  offered  to  support  an  additional  teacher 
in  the  Girls’  School.  The  Board  gladly  and  thankfully  ac¬ 
cepted  the  proposition,  and  an  immediate  call  for  candidates 
for  appointment  was  made,  to  which  several  ladies  responded. 

On  June  3,  1891,  Miss  Mary  Comfort  Hollowell,  of  Cham- 


il ixtorical  Sketch  of  the 


bersburg.  Pa.,  was 
appointed.  She  had 
graduated  from  the 
High  School,  and 
snl)sequently  from 
Wdlson  Female  Col¬ 
lege,  both  of  Cham- 
bersbnrg.  Pa.,  in 
which  College  she 
took  a  high  honor. 
She  saileil  from  Van¬ 
couver,  B.  C.,  Octo¬ 
ber  25,  tSqt,  and 
landed  at  Yokohama, 
Japan,  November  8, 
1891. 

After  a  faithful  ser¬ 
vice  of  nearly  seven 
years,  Miss  llollowell 
returned  to  the  United 
States  nn  fnr’oug’.i,  Iia\'iitg  sailed  from  Yokohamti,  Japan,  Oc¬ 
tober  I,  i8p8,  and  retiched  Stm  Francisco,  Cal.,  via  Honolulu, 
( )ct,  [7,  1898. 


-40 


MISS  .MARY  COMFORT  HOLLOWELL. 


Retirement  of  the  Misses  Roorbaugh. 

'I'he  Bottl'd  congratulated  it.self  that  now  it  had  a  well- 
etiuipped  Christian  school,  of  the  grade  of  our  Womans  Col¬ 
lege,  at  Allentown,  Pa.,  under  the  mtmtigement  of  three  ladies 
of  earnest  Christian  character,  of  admirable  qualifications  and 
devoted  zeal.  And  it  looked  forward  with  trustful  expectation 
to  its  continued  usefitlness  and  growth.  It  was  therefore  a 
matter  of  deep  regret  when  a  letter,  under  date  of  July  i,  1892, 
was  received  from  Miss  Lizzie  R.  Poorliattgh,  asking  for  her¬ 
self  and  sister  a  release  from  further  service  as  missionaries  in 
the  early  future.  Efforts  were  made  to  induce  a  reconsidera¬ 
tion  of  the  conclusion  they  had  reached,  but  without  success. 


Il'ork  of  Foreign  Missions 


41 


(  'nlv  tlu-n  dill  the  Board,  appreciatinq-  their  lahorious,  self- 
sacrificitig'  and  eminently  sneeessfnl  work,  relnctantly  ac- 
qtiiesee.  directing  that  their  work  shonld  close  at  end  of  the 
school  year  of  i8oJ-'g3.  I'his  date  was  supposed  to  accord 
with  the  wishes  of  the  lathes,  as  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year 
i8oj  (Septeinher  8)  in  a  letter  Miss  Lizzie  had  intptired  rvhy 
the  Boartl  conld  not  speedily  appoint  their  successor,  and  send 
her  out  in  time  for  them  to  leave  during  the  year  1893. 

This  action  was  taken  in  December,  1892,  and  the  Board 
immediately  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  a  suitable  lady  to  has¬ 
ten  to  the  assistance  of  Miss  llollowell,  at  the  opening  of  the 
term  in  the  fall  of  1893.  These  efforts  resulted  in  failure.  The 
Board  found  itself  in  a  dilemma.  The  thought  of  throwing  the 
burden  of  the  management  of  the  school  upon  iMiss  Hollowell, 
who  was  at  the  time  but  a  fraction  over  one  y^ear  in  Japan,  could 
not  be  entertained.  X^o  alternative  seemed  to  be  left  but  to 
place  Rev.  Dr.  i\Ioore,  who  was  at  the  time  on  furlough  in  this 
country,  temporarily  at  the  head  of  the  school  as  Principal 
with  Mrs.  i\Ioore  as  \'ice-Principal.  This  the  Board  did  with 
great  reluctance,  and  Dr.  Aloore  acquiesced  with  equal  reluc¬ 
tance.  For  it  involved  a  serious  darangement  of  the  evange¬ 
listic  work,  of  which  department  he  was  the  Phdncipal.  On 
their  return  to  Japan,  in  the  summer  of  1893,  they  entered  upon 
their  new  duties  in  the  Girls'  School,  which  continued  to  move 
forward  with  undiminished  prosperity  during  their  connection 
with  it. 

Upon  the  retirement  of  the  iMisses  Poorbangh,  the  school, 
which  previously  had  been  under  the  management  and  control 
of  its  American  teachers,  was  by  the  action  of  the  Board  ])laced 
under  the  direct  jurisdiction  of  the  Mission.  Immediatelv  af¬ 
ter  the  assumption  of  the  ])rinci])alship  by  Rev.  Dr.  IMoore,  a 
reorganization  of  the  management  of  the  schoirl  was  effected, 
by  which  the  immediate  management  of  the  school  was  ])laced 
in  the  hands  of  an  Executive  Committee,  composed  in  part 
of  natives,  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  Japanese,  this  Ex¬ 
ecutive  Committee  to  be  subject  to  the  orders  and  directions  of 
‘he  ^Mission. 


42 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


L’ndfr  the  reorganizatiun,  causes  of  distiirliance  which  had 
previously  appeared  among  the  scholars  being  obviated,  the 
school  moved  forward  prosperously.  But  it  was  not  long  be¬ 
fore  the  fears  which  had  been  entertained  that  Dr.  Mc^ore's  as¬ 
signment  t(.)  dntv  in  the  Dirls'  School  might  work  ininrionsly 
upon  onr  general  evangelistic  work  were  found  to  be  well- 
gronndeJ.  Accordinglv  the  mission  requested  the  Board  to 
a])]joint  a  new  lady  to  he  associated  with  Miss  flollow'ell,  who, 
with  the  aid  of  suitable  native  teachers,  would  furnish  a  suffi¬ 
cient  teachinq-  force  for  the  School. 


Appointment  of  Miss  Lena  Zurfluh. 

In  response  the  Board  sought  a  suitable  lady  and  was  happy 
in  hnding  her  in  the  per.s(jn  of  Miss  Lena  ZnrHnh,  of  Toledo, 
(  lino,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Heidelberg  Lhhversity,  Tiffin,  (  )hio, 
and  had  several  years'  ex])erience  as  a  teacher  in  the  pnl)lic 

schools  in  the  city  of 
her  residence. 

iMiss  Lena  Znrflnh 
was  appointed  March 
14,  1804.  ^ke  sailed 
from  San  k'rancisco. 
Cal.,  August  t6, 
1894,  and  landed  at 
Yokohama,  Ja])an, 
September  2,  1894. 

(  )n  her  arrival  at 
Sendai  she  entered 
upon  the  position  va¬ 
cated  by  Dr.  Moore. 
Since  then,  under  the 
efficient  management 
and  instruction  of  the 
two  American  ladies, 
aided  by  the  generous 
help  of  ]\Irs.  S.  S. 


.MISS  LENA  ZCRFLCH. 


Snvilor  in  the  depart- 
niont  of  music,  and 
several  Japanese  as¬ 
sistants,  the  school 
has  q'one  forwanl 
diiriiii;-  the  year  tSgy- 
'1)5.  with  unabated 
prosperity.  During 
this  year  the  nnmher 
of  Students  reached 
57.  (  )f  these  4t  were 
Itoarders.  Fi\'e  of  the 
scholars  graduated 
at  the  close  of  the 
school  year. 

•Appointment  of  Miss 

L.  M.  Rohrbaugh. 

It  l;)eing  found 
necessar^■  to  increase  lillie  .m.  kohrb.cugh. 

the  inissionar}'  teaching  force  in  the  Dirls’  School,  with  the 
approval  of  the  .  AJ.  S.  G.  S.,  who  have  assumed  the  full  sup¬ 
port  of  the  School,  the  Board,  at  its  annual  meeting  in  the 
city  of  Dayton,  (d.,  dlarch  9,  1897,  a])pointed  Miss  Lillie  M. 
Rohrhaugh,  of  the  vicinity  of  Colmnhiana,  (d.,  to  Ite  an  addi¬ 
tional  Missionary  teacher  in  said  school. 

dliss  L.  iM.  Rohrhaugh  is  a  graduate  of  Heidellterg  Uni¬ 
versity,  Tiffin,  (dhio.  She  has  had  the  experience  of  several 
years'  teaching  in  this  country.  She  sailed  fnmi  San  Fran¬ 
cisco,  Cal.,  Aug  5,  1897,  and  landed  at  Yokohama  Aug.  26, 
1897.  She  at  once  entered  u])on  the  discharge  of  her  duties 
in  the  school,  so  far  as  her  want  of  knowledge  of  the  language 
would  permit,  while  under  the  instruction  of  her  native  teacher 
she  sought  to  acquire  the  language. 


44 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


Support  of  the  (iirls’  School  by  the  Woman’s  Missionary 
Society  of  the  General  Synod. 

After  having  assumed  the  sui^port  of  Miss  Mary  C.  tlollo- 
well,  the  menil)ers  of  the  Woman's  Missionary  Society,  (d.  S., 
felt  that  they  were  competent  for  and  entitled  to  a  larger  share 
in  our  Foreign  [Missionary  work.  The  question  whether  they 
should  not  assume  the  entire  support  of  the  Girls'  School  was 
raised.  .Vfter  careful  iiajuiry  as  to  the  feasibility,  and  the  avail¬ 
ability  of  the  necessary  means,  and  the  further  prayerful  in- 
(|uiry  as  to  ( lod's  holy  will  in  the  premises,  the  resolution  was 
solemnly  taken  to  ])ropose  to  the  Board  that  the  sui)i)ort  in  full 
of  the  school  he  committed  to  their  hands.  The  Board,  glad  to 
receive  the  very  desirable  and  effective  cooperation  of  the 
women  of  our  Church,  most  cordially  accepted  and  approved 
the  proposition.  So  that  now  and  henceforth  our  Sendai  Girls’ 
School  will  he  entircK’  sui)ported  bv  that  Society. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Tohokn  ( lakuin,  so  in  the  Girls’  School, 
a  number  of  the  sch(.)lars  are  sup])orted  as  beneficiaries  by 
American  jiatrons  at  a  cost  of  a  year,  payable  half-yearly, 

in  advance,  d’here  are  32  thus  su])ported,  some  of  whom  grad¬ 
uate  this  Miinmer  (  i8i;5  ). 

.\  most  im|)ortant  branch  of  instruction  in  the  ScIkjoI  is  the 
training  the  Christian  girls  receive  in  Bible  and  Sunday-school 
work.  The  teachers  are  at  the  head  of  some  of  these  schools,  go¬ 
ing  fjut  int(j  the  city  and  surrounding  C(juntry  on  Saturday  and 
.Sunday,  having  two  or  three  schools  under  their  charge.  Fif¬ 
teen  of  the  scholars  are  teachers  in  these  schools.  This  train¬ 
ing  is  proving  productive  of  great  good.  Some  of  the  former 
scholars,  now  in  their  homes,  some  of  them  married,  are  act¬ 
ing  the  ])art  of  Sunday-school  workers,  and  in  an  important 
sense,  of  evangelists,  in  winning  their  kindred  and  acquaint¬ 
ances  to  Christ.  (  )ur  (Iirls'  .School  is  a  vastly  important  and 
efficient  branch  of  cnir  missionarv  service. 

Evanjjelistic  NN  ork. 

To  preach  the  gospel  and  to  win  souls  into  Christ’s  Kingdom 


*  Thi^  cost  has  been  recently  reiJuced  to  '45.00  a  year. 


Il'ork  of  I'orcigii  Missions 


45 


is  to  do  cvang'olistic  work.  It  has  crniic  to  he  a  settled  convic¬ 
tion  that  to  do  this  work  with  the  g'reatest  efficiency,  native 
preachers  and  workers  innst  he  called  into  the  service,  lo 
i|nalifv  native  Christians  fi>r  this  has  been  the  g'reat  incentive 
in  the  estahlislnnent  of  Christian  schools.  In  common  witli 
others,  onr  experience  is  that  these  schools,  hoth  male  and  fe¬ 
male,  which  are  open  to  non-christians  as  well  as  Christians, 
liave  proved  a  most  powerful  agency  in  winning  souls  to 
Christ.  A  large  percentage  of  the  non-christians  are  either 
converted  during  their  school  days  or  go  forth  so  impressed  hy 
the  truth  of  Christianity  as  to  lead  them  subsequently  to  its 
acceptance,  d'he  report  of  the  Tohoku  Gakuin  for  1894  shows 
160  students  then  present.  Of  these  T05  were  Christians,  jp 
seekers  and  16  unbelievers.  If  these  last,  11  were  in  the  Pre- 
paratorv  Department,  indicating  their  recent  entrance  into  the 
school.  Everv  vear  a  larger  or  smaller  numl)er  of  the  students 
are  Iniptized.  This  is  equally  true  of  the  Girls’  School. 

The  male  missionaries  are  no  less  preachers  than  teachers 
in  the  school.  They  go  to  out-stations  more  or  less  remote  from 
Sendai,  or  to  stations  and  congregations  in  the  city.  They  do 
evangelistic  work.  But  to  Dr.  Moore  and  Rev.  IMiller  as  Prin¬ 
cipals  of  the  Evangelistic  Department,  is  committed  the  general 
oversight  of  this  l.)ranch  of  the  service.  They  frequently,  in 
company  with  one  or  more  native  helpers,  make  tours  of  the 
field  embraced  in  our  work,  preaching,  administering  the  sac¬ 
raments,  examining  canditlates  for  baptism  and  generally  coun¬ 
selling  and  advising  the  resident  workers.  The  students  of  the 
Theological  Department  are  taken  out  l)y  their  professors  and 
trained  in  preaching  and  pastoral  work. 

Up  to  the  summer  of  1898,  31  students  have  graduated  from 
the  Theological  Department,  and  13  have  taken  partial  courses. 
This  yearly  increase  of  well-educated  evangelists  is  rapidly  ex¬ 
tending  our  field  of  labor. 

The  statistical  report  of  1893-94  shows  12  organized 
churches,  of  which  five  arc  self-supporting;  41  preaching  sta¬ 
tions;  during  the  year,  233  l)aptisms.  Present  membership. 


46 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


1817;  Sunday-schools,  27,  with  1063  scholars  ;  students  in  the 
Theological  Department,  26:  native  ministers,  9;  unordained 
preachers,  18;  Hil)le  W  omen,  5.  All  this,  and  vet  we  have  but 
fairly  made  a  l)egiuning..  (  )ur  first  class  of  trained  evangelists 
graduated  as  late  as  the  summer  of  1893.  From  this  on  we  ex- 
I)ect  a  yearly  increase  in  our  working  force. 

From  this  it  would  a])pear  that  our  educational  policy  has 
got  into  successful  working  order;  that  we  are  gradually 
emerging  from  a  period  of  restraint,  and  dare  wenowdoubtbut 
that  in  the  future  the  same  gracious  (dod  who  has  blessed  and 
prospered  us  in  the  past  will  l)y  Dis  IIolv  Spirit  incite  the 
heart  of  cjur  home  Church  to  greater  works  of  love. 

I  he  \V  ives  of  the  Missionaries. 

This  exceedingly  brief  and  cursory  sketch  of  our  evange¬ 
listic  work  would  l)e  injuriously  incomplete  were  nut  note 
taken  of  the  very  important  and  valuable  services  rendered  by 
the  wives  of  our  missionaries.  It  is  a  matter  of  inestimable 
advantage  that  we  have  Christian  women  connected  with  our 
-Mission.  In  a  nation  like  Japan,  where  woman  is  defrauded 
of  her  rights  as  a  moral  and  rational  being,  created  in  the  image 
ot  ( lod,  the  simple  presence  of  a  Christian  woman  as  an  illus¬ 
tration  of  a  womanhood  which  Christianity  alone  can  produce, 
is  of  itself  invaluable.  She  becomes  an  (jbject  les.son  and  im- 
[larts  instruction  which  far  transcends  in  impressiveness  the 
most  learned  precept. 

r.ut  it  is  as  the  light  and  life  of  the  Christian  home  that  her 
transcendent  worth  appears.  As  the  embodiment  of  domestic 
life  as  formed  bv  Christianity,  the  Christian  home  is  exerting  a 
tremendous  power  for  good.  It  is  a  lesson  to  which  the  Japa¬ 
nese  cannot  close  their  eyes.  Ami  in  the  case  of  our  unmarried 
lady  missionaries,  they  w  ith  wonder  notice  the  intelligence,  the 
self-reliant  energy  and  the  executive  skill  with  which  they  grap¬ 
ple  with  the  problems  of  life.  Everything  in  this  regard  is  in 
the  shari)est  contrast  with  their  own  life  and  experience. 

The  wives  of  the  missionaries  have  rendered  valualjle  service 


Il'or/c  of  l\irci;^ii  Missions 


47 


in  Sntulav-school  work,  visiting'  the  sick,  ministering'  to  the  snf- 
tering'  aiul  aftlicteJ  in  hosiiitals,  meeting'  classes  of  women  for 
instruction  in  the  arts  of  domestic  life  ami  the  principles  and 
truths  of  onr  hol\  religion,  rescuing'  poor  and  homeless  chil¬ 
dren  and  need\'.  sntfering'  aged  persons,  and  with  great  dili¬ 
gence  and  efticiencv  directing  the  native  w'omen  in  the  various 
branches  of  chnrch  work.  They,  together  with  the  ladies  in 
the  tlirls'  School,  have  rented,  at  their  ow'n  cost,  a  house,  under 
the  management  of  a  competent  native  Christian  matron,  into 
which  thev  have  received  a  nnmher  of  infirm  poor  and  several 
abandoned  children  where  they  are  supported  and  taken  care 
of.  In  these  several  wavs,  liesides  the  direction  of  their  Itilile 
w'omen  in  their  pious  w'ork,  the  women  of  onr  IMission  are  ren¬ 
dering  a  most  valuable  and  fruitful  service. 

The  Outlook. 

Instead  of  the  recent  war  with  China  proving  a  hindrance 
to  onr  work,  as  w'as  at  first  feared,  it  has  in  a  most  surprising 
w'ay  ministered  to  its  advancement.  It  served  as  an  occasion 
to  call  forth  the  temper  and  spirit  of  Christianity,  as  also  to  ex¬ 
hibit  by  its  w'ork  and  institutions  of  charity  and  loving  human¬ 
ity,  its  divine  character,  in  such  a  w  ay  that  it  wms  to  the  Jap¬ 
anese  people  in  some  sort  a  revelation,  and  has  w^on  for  it  a  tol¬ 
eration  and  respect  that  Irefore  were  denied  it.  In  commending 
itself  to  the  higher  as])irations  and  religions  instincts  of  the 
people,  it  is  achieving  a  conquest  of  the  heart  in  advance  of  that 
of  the  head,  and  is  receiving  a  homage  from  the  lietter  feelings 
which  the  critical  reason  is  not  yet  prepared  to  accord. 

There  still,  however,  is  room  for  larger  results  in  overcoming 
that  hostile  anti-foreign  feeling  engendered  liy  the  question  of 
treaty  revision  and  the  determined  assaults  of  the  Buddhists 
prior  to  the  war.  A  hitter  feeling  against  Christianitv  had 
sprung  up.  and  it  w'ill  take  time  to  overcome  it.  even  in  the 
presence  of  the  favorable  influences  exerted  bv  the  war.  The 
hostility  of  the  educational  department  is  still  verv  Iiitter  and 
has  the  efifect  to  diminish  confidence  in  the  ^Mission  schools. 


48 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


This,  together  with  the  general  demoralization  caused  by  the 
war,  has  caused  a  falling  off  of  students  in  the  Christian 
schools.  (Jur  Tohoku  Gaknin  has  felt  the  effects.  Our  num- 
l)er  of  students  during  the  school  year  just  closed  was  ma¬ 
terially  less  than  for  the  two  years  preceding.  A  person  edu¬ 
cated  in  a  Christian  school,  as  a  matter  of  prejudice,  is  at  a 
disadvamage  iu  business  relations,  and  a  disposition  prevails 
to  turn  to  the  native  schools.  The  educational  department  is 
now  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  Christianity  has  to  contend 
with.  But  the  same  mighty  power  which  overcame  the  enmity 
of  the  military  department  will  in  its  own  good  time  achieve 
a  victory  over  the  educational.  W'e  need  but  w'ait  to  see  the  de¬ 
liverance  of  God.'^' 

But  withal  this  the  war  has  opened  a  wider  door  for  effective 
mission  work  than  existed  immediately  before.  IMeanwhile  our 
educational  ])olicy  has  only  reached  such  a  state  of  productive 
efficiency  as  to  enable  us  to  avail  ourselves,  in  small  measure 
of  this  God-sent  oi)p(jrtunity.  Calls  for  Christian  ministrations 
are  coming  to  our  Mission  beyond  its  ability  to  supply.  .\nd 
the  dilemma  now  is.  not  where  to  find  waiting  IMacedonias,  but 
where  to  find  the  messengers  to  send,  d  hese  messengers  from 
year  to  year  are  going  forth  from  our  schools.  .\nd  wdien  in 
a  few  years  the  fifty  or  more  young  men  who  are  now  studying 
for  the  nnnistry  shall  have  gone  forth  into  the  field,  they  will 
but  jjrepare  the  way  f(jr  as  many  more,  who,  no  doubt  will  come 
after  them.  \’erily  has  (  lod  given  us  as  a  Church  a  gloriously 
productive  field  for  our  spiritual  husl)andry. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Many  of  the  students  in  our  Tohoku 
( iakuin  are  not  candidates  for  the  ministry.  (  )f  these  a  goodly 

*  (^uite  recently  the  joyl'ul  intelligence  reaches  ns,  that  a  inarke<l  change  for  the 
better  has  been  manifested  l)y  the  Mini?>ter  of  Education.  He  has  issued  an  order 
that  hereafter  the  same  privileges  and  immunities  shall  be  extended  to  the  students 
in  Christian  Schools  that  heretofore  were  confined  to  the  students  of  the  Government 
Schools.  In  the  past  the  students  in  Christian  Schools  were  subject  to  grave  disabili¬ 
ties.  which  had  the  effect  to  seriously  deminish  their  number. 


U'orlc  of  Foreign  Missions 


49 


pcrcentai^e  arc  not  L'hristians  when  they  enter.  Bnt  experience 
has  demonstrated  that  I)nt  few  who  study  there  for  any  con- 
sideralde  length  of  time  leave  without  becoming  Christians.  Our 
scliools  have  proved  themselves  to  be  most  effective  evangelistic 
agencies.  Tims  are  we  training  an  educated  and  influential 
Christian  laity.  And  these,  like  the  early  Christians  who  were 
dispersed  from  Jerusalem  on  the  eve  of  its  destruction,  are 
scattered  abroad  throughout  the  Empire,  as  seed-sowers  and 
living  epistles  among  the  people.  Scores  of  Japanese  Chris¬ 
tians  trace  their  interest  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the 
word  spoken  and  the  light  diffused  by  some  kindred  or  friend 
or  neighbor. 

And  last  bnt  far  from  being  the  least  is  the  work  done,  and 
the  outlook  for  our  Girls’  School.  This  is  our  main  reliance  for 
the  establishment  of  the  Christian  Home  in  Japan.  Without 
this  Japan  cannot  be  Christianized.  With  degraded,  dowm- 
trodden,  misguided  mothers,  what  must  the  children  be  ? 
Xearly  all  the  girls  who  take  a  course  in  our  school  leave  it  as 
Christians.  They  become  the  light  and  life  of  Christian  homes. 
And  even  those,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  who  by  the  constraint 
of  their  parents  are  married  into  unbelieving  families,  become 
as  leaven,  and  by  their  lives  silently  preach  the  Word  of  ever¬ 
lasting  truth. 

(Jur  school  is  full.  W'e  have  between  50  and  60  scholars, 
which  number  cannot  be  much  exceeded  until  larger  room  is 
provided.  Wdth  this  at  hand,  a  larger  number,  no  doubt,  could 
be  gathered  in. 

C)h,  it  is  a  blessed  thought  for  those  who  are  working  and 
contributing  to  Foreign  Missions  that  one  day,  over  there  in 
the  hleavenly  World,  we  will  meet  redeemed  Japanese  souls,  for 
whose  rescue  we,  while  on  earth,  did  what  we  could. 

Incorporation  of  the  Board. 

The  Board  was  incorporated  by  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
of  Dauphin  county.  Pa.,  April  25,  1881,  with  the  corporate  title 
of  “The  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  the  United  States.” 


50 


Historical  Sketch  of  the 


The  names  of  the  commissioners  then  incorporated  were  as 
follows : 

Rev.  David  \’an  Horne,  D.D..  Rev.  C.  H.  Leinbach,  D.D., 
Rev.  T.  S.  Johnston,  D.D.,  Rev.  C.  Z.  W'eiser,  D.D.,  Rev.  B. 
Bansman,  D.l).,  Rev.  J.  H.  A.  BomI)erger,  D.D.,  Rev.  X.  Gehr, 
D.l).,  Rev.  J.  Santee,  D.D.,  Elders  R.  F.  Kelker,  A’.  H.  Seibert, 
(.i.  S.  (Griffith  and  (deorge  Gelhach. 

Members  of  the  Koard  in  1898. 

Rev.  James  L.  Good,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh,  D.D.,  Rev. 
J.  S.  Kieffer,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  Dahhnann,  D.D.,  Rev.  C.  R.  Dieffen- 
hacher,  D.D.,  Rev.  P.  Greding,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  R.  Bartholomew, 
D.l).,  Rev.  S.  X.  Callender,  D.D.,  Elders  Benjamin  Kuhns, 
Joseph  L.  Lemherger,  Ph.iM.,  J.  Y.  Dietz,  and  J.  Z.  Ger¬ 
hard,  Ml). 

li.x'ccutivc  Coiiimittcc :  Rev.  James  E  ( lood,  D.D.,  Rev.  J.  H. 
Prugh,  D.D.,  Rev.  S.  X.  Callender,  D.D.,  Rev.  A.  R.  Bartholo¬ 
mew,  D.D. ;  Elders  Joseph  L.  Lemherger.  Ph.iM.,  and  J.  Z. 
( ierhard,  M.D. 

Officers  of  the  Board:  Rev.  James  I.  (jood,  D.D.,  President; 
Rev.  J.  H.  Prugh,  D.D.,  \  ice- 1 'resident ;  Rev.  S.  X.  Callender, 
D.D.,  Secretarv  ;  ILlder  Joseph  L.  Leml:)erger,  Ph.  M..  Treas¬ 
urer. 


Legacies. 

All  legacies  to  the  Board  should  be  in  the  following  form ; 

"I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  to  The  Board  of  Coiiiniissioiicrs 
for  Torign  Missiotis  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States,  the  sum  of . Dollars." 


Note — If  the  bequest  is  real  estate,  let  the  property  be  carefully  described.  In 
every  case  let  the  will  be  made  at  least  thirty  days  before  death,  and  vvitnes.sed  by  two 
subscribers,  according  to  law.  If  thebecjuesl  is  made  less  than  thirty  days  before  the 
death  of  the  testator,  according  to  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania,  it  is  void  ana  of  no  effect. 
Kspecial  care  should  be  taken  to  have  the  corporate  title  of  the  Hoard,  precisely 
as  above. 


.  'i';  '' 


